


Sorcerer's Curse

by StarWritingFlute200



Series: Glimpses [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dreams, Gen, Seer, Sorcerer Stone, mostly cannon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 38,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24170434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarWritingFlute200/pseuds/StarWritingFlute200
Summary: Ella's 1st year left off with a terrible curse to stop her from telling her dreams of the future to other students at Hogwarts. All is well until her nightmares start appearing in real life. How will she survive a year with her secrets and that one reoccurring dream filling her thoughts? How is she supposed to keep the future to herself when a certain Harry Potter is in terrible danger if she continues to do so?Hogwarts from a new perspective with changing as little Cannon as possible. Read "Glimpses" first to understand the set up!Updates every Monday!
Series: Glimpses [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1438153
Kudos: 1





	1. The Boy Who Lived

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

A man walked down the street through deserted neighborhoods looking for something that had eluded him for too long. That sneaky, conniving rat of a traitor that he had been looking for since receiving the news and seeing the actual damage. He couldn’t believe that at one time he had called him a friend and they had all welcomed him into their group as an equal member. He wouldn’t get out of this one.

He knew that the rat was close. He could practically smell his fear. His plan had not gone accordingly and now he had to face the wrath of one of his ‘friends.’ He couldn’t be more than three blocks away. Maybe four. Every house in the neighborhood was quiet as though they hadn’t woken up yet. Not a single person stirred that morning. November 2nd two days after Halloween. Two days after his best friend, brother more like it, and his wife had been murdered. His godson lived, but he knew there was no way he could take care of the child. Dumbledore had a plan and he would let him follow it while he got even with the one who caused the pain he now suffered through. Besides, he was the one people believed to have betrayed the family. He never would have but he had switched the names at the last second to try and protect the family more. It hadn’t worked.

Let it be known, he was the innocent one. The world wouldn’t know. He’d go to Azkaban to avenge a friend by killing someone he used to call a friend. He stopped suddenly when he noticed he was no longer alone. A little girl of maybe two or three sat in a lawn wearing a tiny witch’s hat and some fairy wings. Remnants of fun two nights ago for the ordinary Muggle child. He thought of his godson as he watched her, but that made him think of his best friend and that caused the ache in his chest to come back like a thousand pounds of brick and cement bashing at his heart.

That godson of his would never get to trick or treat with his parents. He’d never spend another birthday or Christmas with them. He was now orphaned. You’d think that’d be enough to stop any godfather from doing something rash, but he was beyond reason. The poor child would only have his aunt and uncle to take care of him and from how his mother talked they might not be the best parents.

That child, that little girl, would never know the true terrors of the world. She wouldn’t know of the wizard world or anything. She just sat playing in the grass. He was about three feet away when the girl’s attitude changed. She focused on several pebbles around her feet as though she was tired of using her little fists to move them around. They rose into the air and did a little dance around her. The girl clapped her hands together and giggled at her trick. He realized that she was a Muggle-Born witch. A very young Muggle-Born too. It caught him off guard. You could rarely see a witch her age doing magic in a Muggle household. He shook his head and thought back to what was in his mind a few minutes ago. He was wrong, she would know about the world he was a part of.

“Hello little one, why don’t you go inside?” He said gently to her.

She looked up at him with big blue eyes and said, “Doggie no get rat!” Sirius stumbled backwards in utter disbelief. It had to be a phrase the child learned. Nothing more.

“Go inside, little one,” he told her again not wanting her around when he challenged Pettigrew.

The girl pouted and said again, “Doggie no get rat!” He wanted to convince himself it was only a phrase, but her eyes told him different. They were like daggers filled to the brim with knowledge he didn’t even have. She was only a toddler; how could she possess such a stare? It had to be his imagination; his subconscious trying to tell him that going after Peter was wrong. Of course it was wrong. He knew that he shouldn’t have to kill anyone, but it was also wrong what he did, even more so than killing. He betrayed friends who trusted him.

He had a nice little game going on with all the Marauders. Pretend he was a great friend then betray them all like the rat he was. Sirius had always wondered why his animagus form was a rat, but he never would again. He would have died for Lily and James. He would have been tortured into insanity for Lily and James. Instead of those happening, Peter turned them straight into Lord Voldemort’s open hands giving him full reign in the plotting of their murders. Peter turned them against each other. He had suspected Remus. He knew Remus had suspected him, but who would suspect the little rat? No one could suspect him of anything. They all believed he was too stupid to figure out a plot like this. They believed he was too frightened to ever go near Voldemort or his Death Eaters. 

Sirius watched as the girl staggered inside. She seemed to mean it so much, but what could someone so young know about that? A three year old knowing his mind was insane. A three year old knowing what he planned to do before it happened was even worse. His imagination must have been acting up. She probably said something completely different, but he heard that. He couldn’t even bring himself to turn back to the house and tell the parents what their daughter would be put into in a matter of years. All Muggle-Borns had some problem with being a witch or wizard. Whether it was the parents believing or people from families like his acting like they’re better than them. She should be given some sort of warning before it all, but if he went in now, he never would finish his task.

He brought out his wand and continued his journey to the traitor. No celebrations for him. He wouldn’t make a toast to the Boy Who Lived, his godson; he would be avenging his parent’s deaths. James wouldn’t have wanted it, but James was gone. Sirius’s life was gone as well as the closest thing he had to family; there was no turning back for him. The rat would pay.


	2. The Vanishing Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

Ella would walk. She would walk for hours and hours, running through her memory of the previous school year. Trying to remember every miniscule detail of what had happened. Sometimes she would humor herself with the memory of what happened just days after she returned.

Allison and her group of friends were shocked to see her and took no time in trying to torture her again. They’d made their way towards her the second they recognized she was back with her parents. Ella could see their malicious grins and knew exactly what they intended to do. Only this time she was confident against them. They couldn’t be wicked Muggles to her for not knowing why she was different. Sure, she couldn’t do magic, but she wouldn’t be shoved around either. Their words didn’t hold a fraction of the weight they had done the summer before when Ella had been alone. With her friends back at Hogwarts, Ella felt confident in herself as a person.

“Hello Smella, where’ve you been? We thought you were finally shipped to the nutter house.” Allison sniggered like she was so brilliant. She thought about all that Zahareth had put her through and knew this was nothing

“Hello Allison, I can see you haven’t changed a bit.” She said casually trying to walk by. Allison’s cronies closed the gap she was about to walk through. Allison put her hand on Ella’s shoulder and pulled her back.

“Where do you think you’re going?” One crony said to Ella.

“I’m going home,” she said her patience wearing thin despite her hopes to keep her temper. Her sapphire blue eyes flashed in an unnoticed warning. She couldn’t be rash. She had to keep her nose clean so her parents wouldn’t have an extra reason to punish her.

Allison wasn’t going to let Ella have her peace wish, “Come on, stay awhile. Tell us about the freaks you spent all year with. Those poor souls.” Ella snapped and shoved her over.

She glared at her and yelled, “You keep quiet about my friends!”

It was absolutely obvious to Allison she had hit a tense spot, especially at the word poor, “What’s the matter, Ella, something wrong?”

“You keep your mouth shut about my friends,” Ella snapped at her.

She only laughed, “Oh you didn’t like me calling them poor did you? How poor are they Ella? Dirt poor? Can’t feed each other poor? Tell me Ella, tell me.”

In the days later Ella would wish she had walked away, but after those days of punishment, she would proudly say that she gave Allison exactly what she deserved. She got herself a good punch and kick. About time she got taught a lesson too; one that wasn’t by Ella’s uncontrollable magic. Ever since she had gone to Hogwarts she hadn’t had any of her uncontrollable magic. Fine by her, of course, she didn’t need to get in trouble from things like that. It was much more satisfying to do the damage herself. She didn’t necessarily like being violent, but after being tormented by Allison for years, she’d felt very little guilt in standing up for herself.

Besides, Ella had friends now who would’ve backed her up in defending herself. If Ella hadn’t fought Allison, they would’ve beaten her up anyway. It was a fight or get fought situation and knowing Ella’s new life and the greater world she was a part of gave her the strength to not get pushed around by her former bullies.

She was just waiting for the time she could see Alicia, Angelina, and Katie, her Quidditch playing friends again. They were the girls she knew best in Gryffindor tower. They were always willing to help her in classes and she would do the same. Then there was Lee who always made her laugh. He was going to become a commentator for Quidditch this coming year. He got to do the commentary for the last match even though they lost. Finally the twins, Fred and George, two practical jokesters with fiery red hair and hilarious personalities that Ella would give anything to be near at the moment. They came from a poor family, but they were closer to Ella than her actual family. Each one of them was nicer than anyone Ella had ever met and the Burrow, where they lived, was the home Ella had always wanted. It was a cozy house in the countryside where you could play Quidditch in the summer and everyone was loved in the house.

Despite the difference from ordinary people, or Muggles, that she had with magic, she also had her dreams to separate her from other witches and wizards too. Ella hadn’t even realized she had this ability until she’d been told she was a witch, and even then she hadn’t expected to be the only person that could do this with magic as well. She tried not to dwell on this difference seeing as it hadn’t stopped any of her friends from wanting to stick around her. She wasn’t able to tell a single soul about these dreams anymore due to a curse her Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had put on her. It wasn’t against her will that she got the curse though. She had asked for it because she couldn’t risk telling someone about the dreams she got. See these dreams were of the future and very risky since she had seen things that could probably not be prevented otherwise. She had never tried to tell anyone yet about the dreams that really frightened her, but she wondered when the time would come. Some of the dreams worried her, and there are several reoccurring dreams that wouldn’t stop no matter how much she tried to push them away as they started. Her most recent dream was one that had been circling her mind since she returned home. 

She would be just standing there when several people walked up to her. They were all different ages and she would watch them and see their thoughts. They would be flashes of different things Ella couldn’t comprehend. It didn’t seem like the future, but there seemed to be an air of urgency in the dream. Like she had to figure out what they were doing right away. Only problem was that she couldn’t.

Their thoughts would shoot around her like bolts of lightning. She’d get a grasp on one idea and it would slip away leaving her with another fragment. It made her furious not being able to understand something that was giving her the impression of panic and need. Ella would wake up frustrated and bewildered but couldn’t stop herself from trying to find out more from these kinds of dreams. She had thought that with her curse she would no longer have to worry about her dreams, but now she felt like she’d burst if she couldn’t say. Though letting out the slightest word of it could cause her pain and she didn’t feel like going through pain in order to discover a little bit of a dream. Besides there was no one to ask even.

Looking at the people in the dream made her head spin. She thought she knew at least one or two of the people who were in it. She just couldn’t get it through her head who they were. It was like she was in a never-ending puzzle and it tore her apart trying to get every piece put together just right. She couldn’t shake flashes out of her mind. What did it all mean?

Ella had been stuck at home for only a couple of weeks, but it could have been a century to her. She never thought she would hate the summer, but here she was wishing for everyone that she had ever met at Hogwarts. She would take the homework and harassment from Purebloods any day just to get some sort of magic back in her life. She didn’t even have her owl, Rowena, to keep her company. Her parents had threatened to give her to Animal Control if she came near the house and Ella couldn’t let that happen to her owl. So, she sent her off to the Weasley’s. It would seem that Fred and George had taken her warning seriously and told others to keep their owls away as well because she had gotten absolutely no letters

It made her life seem completely detached from what she had grown accustom to throughout the past few months. It was exceptionally odd to not receive the owl post during breakfast, but she had realized that wouldn’t happen. All the magic she had grown used to seemed to have evaporated into thin air. She was thankful for her school supplies since they reminded her everything was real. The bracelet the twins had gave her for her twelfth birthday was another reminder that she was accepted and loved in some place.

She would sit and fall into memories of the times she had spent laughing and casting spells with her friends. The time she rode a broom and got to feel the wind in her hair. She would love to play Quidditch but knew she couldn’t since she had seen the team and she was not a part of it. There was also the gamekeeper, Hagrid, who she missed. He was the Keeper of Keys and Ground at Hogwarts and was one of the nicest people she had ever met. Sure, his food would leave you wishing you had never tried to eat it, but he had only good intentions.

Sometimes when she walked around her neighborhood, musing about the life she had at school, she would go more than five blocks. She would go far enough away from her home that it would take her hours to return to it. Through these walks, she found out that she was within blocks from the boy in her dreams. It was odd to actually see some of the things that happened become real. She watched as he was pulled inside as two other boys claimed some huge snake attacked them. It was downright bizarre to watch as their description of this event was one she remember dreaming about, though the snake certainly hadn’t attacked the boy Ella remembered as Harry’s cousin. She felt bad seeing as she knew firsthand just how awful uncontrollable magic was. She wanted to tell him that he wasn’t alone, but knew she couldn’t risk such a thing. Yet, she would go to this street often to see if what she saw actually did come true. She was almost caught by several different boys who would come and chase Harry. She wanted to help him fend off the group of bullies, but an uncomfortable tug in her gut told her that would be interfering. She couldn’t risk that.

They would chase him and she could see it in his eyes. He knew he didn’t belong. He was just like her. Stuck in a house of people who didn’t want him there and bullied by those who could have been his friend if he were normal. Some Muggles were so cruel, though she supposed there were witches and wizards who were just as horrible. She wanted to give these bullies a piece of her mind and tell the boy he wasn’t alone, but who would ever believe what she said? That would be insanity to walk up to a person and say they were a wizard. Especially since she couldn’t even do magic to prove herself. All she could do was watch and wait. Wait for the time he would know all about the magical world they belonged to, and the two of them could escape the world that didn’t want them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please kudos and subscribe!


	3. Letters from No One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

As her dreams increased Ella found herself watching Harry even more, though it was hard since he normally was hiding as much as she was. Allison had gotten a little more adventurous in looking for Ella and would wander all the way out to a few neighborhoods before Privet Drive. Ella was nearly certain she wanted to take her down after being so humiliated. Fine by her. Allison would have to find her first.

_The images started flashing again and Ella knew they wouldn’t stop. She sat there and watched the confusion unfold around her not caring to stop it anymore. She never could grab any of the thoughts. Then one appeared in front of her. She reached out and felt the solidness of it between her fingers. It surprised her. It didn’t fight to get away or even flash like the rest. She was able to see a tabby cat like the one she had seen so many times in her other dreams. It was Professor McGonagall. But what did the tabby cat have to do with her dreams or even her professor?_

She woke up and knew that something was starting to break through the surface. She had one clue and that was it. It was more than anything else she had gotten. Her new lead would be Professor McGonagall and a tabby cat or maybe transfiguration in general. Could you turn yourself into animals? First years certainly didn’t learn things like that.

Ella got downstairs and saw a letter on the table. It was addressed with emerald green ink to her. She turned it over to see the Hogwarts crest and her heart seemed to immediately grow lighter. This was solid proof about the school being real and not just a dream. It’s what she had been waiting for all summer. Nothing felt as real as a letter from her school.

“That came for you this morning – by owl,” her mother said with a tone of distaste. 

“You didn’t do anything to it, did you?” Ella asked fearfully. She did not want some poor creature to be taken by animal control on her behalf.

Her mother heaved a sigh, “No, the blasted bird flew off before I could put my hand on the receiver.”

Ella let go of her breath. It was true that owls from the wizarding world were exceptionally bright. She read her letter and the list of new supplies and went to see when she could get to Diagon Alley. Of course, her parents weren’t going to go with her, but Ella knew that since they had never gone to get even regular school supplies with her. She’d be able to get them on the 31st of July, which was perfect. She couldn’t wait for September 1st to come along so she would be able to see her friends again.

She didn’t want to “visit” Harry today. She assumed he’d be getting his letter just like her. Things were going to start looking up for the both of them now, and she couldn’t wait for them to finally make it to the place they belonged. She also wanted to finally truly meet Harry, which she knew she would soon enough at Hogwarts. He was destined to be a Gryffindor like she was. It meant they’d share a Common Room and table in the Great Hall. He was only a year younger, after all, so he shouldn’t be so far removed that Ella never got to be around him. She supposed she felt a tad protective of him since she continuously saw bad things happening to him in her dreams. Ella wasn’t certain that they’d be close friends as she didn’t want to meddle too much in his life, but she knew she would look out for him just a bit. As much as she could without dramatically changing the future.

All her thought on Hogwarts made Ella feel homesick in a way she never had before. She supposed she’d never been away from home long enough to miss it, aside from going to Hogwarts, but if anything, Hogwarts just proved that this house she lived in was no home. She wanted to see Hagrid again and walk around the grounds to his hut. She wouldn’t mind being able to stick her feet in the lake and try to see the Giant Squid. She yearned for the coziness of Gryffindor Tower with the fire place crackling at dusk. Ella even would’ve been in class, the wooden benches for Transfigurations or the dampness of the Dungeons for Potions, so long as she could be in the castle. More than just about anything, she wanted to ride a broom stick or play Quidditch at this moment.

Normally this wouldn’t be her greatest desire. It would be something like playing pranks with the twins, studying with Katie, or even joking around with Lee, but as of now it was Quidditch. Quidditch was the wizarding sport where you played on a broom. There were four balls, four positions, and seven players on a team. She loved watching the games even if Gryffindor wasn’t very good and she already knew that this year was going to be a very good year for Quidditch. She could feel it. The longer she went on her walks or daydreamed of freedom, the more she thought about flying on a broomstick and the rush Quidditch games gave her. Still she wasn’t on the team she dreamt of and she couldn’t alter the future. The first time she had ever been on a broom was a time she tried to relive often. Ella had proved that even a Muggle-Born could be a natural on a broomstick by showing up Zahareth. He’d been all talk for weeks, but Ella shut him up quickly.

In all honesty, Ella didn’t even know what position she would have played given the chance. All she knew was that she wanted to play a game on her own sometime. She didn’t even own a broom, but she was sure that when she got back she’d get to ride one of her friend’s brooms.

A thought struck her then. Would she have friends when she got back? Maybe the fact that she hadn’t gotten any letters wasn’t because of her parents sending animal control after the owls, but because they’d forgotten about her. She shook the thoughts away. She wouldn’t think like that; she couldn’t think like that. Soon she’d be on her way to Hogwarts where she wouldn’t have to worry about fitting in. 


	4. Diagon Alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

When the day had finally arrived for Ella to go to Diagon Alley, she could hardly contain her excitement. Yet, she worked hard to remain calm in her parent’s presence as it would not do to vex them on such an important day. She got money from her father so she could take a taxi to The Leaky Cauldron. Now that she’d taken the taxi before to go to the train station, Ella knew the right thing to say in order to be taken seriously. She hoped that as she got older, it would be easier to just get into the taxi without having to convince the driver it was alright, but a smaller part of Ella hoped that one day her parents would accept her and take her to Diagon Alley themselves.

It was late in the afternoon, but she didn’t mind. She hadn’t been able to get out of the house any faster as her parents kept giving her chores, probably in hopes that she wouldn’t be able to make it. Though she wasn’t sure what her parents expected. Ella would still go to Platform 9 ¾ even if she had no supplies. She could probably find some way to get them at school. Nevertheless, her parents were certainly making things difficult for her. As soon as everything was polished, cut, and sparkling clean she was dashing towards her world. The taxi ride was uneventful, yet eventful all the same. Every street they passed brought her one step closer to the people she’d spent all summer dreaming about. She didn’t think she could actually ask to go in front of a shop that Muggles didn’t notice, so she asked to be sent to a bookstore that was only a block or so away. She had to go into the store in order to get the driver to leave. Apparently, his worry over her only lasted a few feet because three minutes after stepping foot in the store he left.

Ella ducked back out of the shop and walked down past the ordinary Muggle stores and ordinary Muggle people wondering if she could have been these people if things were different for her. Would she have grown up to be ordinary had she not had magic? Would she have wanted to? Nothing appealed to her on the street. She only wanted to go into the magic shops that awaited her. She finally arrived at her destination, a shabby looking pub that only she noticed. Ella had never asked, but she was sure that magic was being used to disguise the place so ordinary people wouldn’t walk into it and be exposed to the world of magic. Maybe she would ask a friend about it some time. After all, would other Muggle-borns who didn’t know about magic yet be able to see this place? So many questions floated in her head, but she knew the answers would have to wait.

She entered into The Leaky Cauldron feeling a little frightened at being alone. It was a darkly lit place filled with witches, wizards, and other creatures Ella hadn’t even learned about yet. She was positive someone she knew had to be in Diagon Alley somewhere, but finding them would be rather difficult. She’d need to stay alert so she wouldn’t miss seeing them.

Or not.

Right away, a towering man sat in the corner with a large pink umbrella beside him. She immediately recognized the friendly ground’s keeper she’d spent so much of the summer day dreaming about. She’d missed his hut so desperately. Hagrid looked a tad green, but she would have been excited to see him no matter what he looked like. Ella couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing here, but she was thrilled to see him none the less. He was one of her favorite adults at Hogwarts and if Ella were truly being honest, he was one of her favorite adult just in general.

“Hello Hagrid!” Ella said brightly to him, hoping to cheer him up.

He looked up slightly disoriented and saw that she was there, “Hello Ella, what are yeh doin’ here by yeh self?”

She didn’t let the question phase her she merely replied with a wave of her hand, “They just didn’t want to come. Why are you here? Seems a little late in the year for you to be out getting anything for the grounds. And, I’m sorry to say, Hagrid, you look awful.”

Hagrid looked at her skeptically like he wanted to question her more about her parents, but decided against it, “I’m here on Hogwarts business, helpin’ Harry Potter get his school supplies. Just got done with the Gringotts visit. Not my favorite place teh be.”

My eyes widened, “Wow, the Harry Potter is here?”

“Yeah, an’ it’s his birthday too. I wan’ed to get him an ice cream, but I’m no good at gettin’ things like tha’. What flavor do yeh think he’d like?” 

Ella closed her eyes thinking deeply, “Chocolate…and raspberry. Oh and maybe something like sprinkles, no, they aren’t sprinkles. Chopped nuts, definitely chopping nuts.” A slight stomach pain grew at her words, but disappeared the moment she stopped speaking.

Hagrid must not have noticed as his face broke into a smile, “Thank yeh Ella.”

“Not a problem Hagrid, now if you excuse me, I need to exchange some money at Gringotts. Hopefully my experience is a little better than yours.” They exchanged their goodbyes and Ella went on her way. She once again walked down the rows of magical and colorful stores that sold everything she could ever dream of. A single look into just one of these stores could fuel her imagination for days on end. Ella could even begin to name these objects, and she didn’t think any of the books she’d read before finding out she was a witch could have had the ability to paint a picture of what real magical shops were like.

She remembered clearly the days of longing for another place to live and another world to be a part of. Burying herself in books and other fairytales hoping that Allison didn’t find her and destroy the book. The days of feeling apart from the world she was put into, feeling different because she could do things others couldn’t and she had dreams that felt real and now were real, but they weren’t real then. She’d dream and read and wish, but nothing happened until that fateful day Professor Snape, the potions teacher, arrived at her house scaring away Allison and her cronies, then whisking her off to Diagon Alley and the place she belonged. Her dreams became real that day in more ways than one.

She got inside and stood at a line where she could exchange her Muggle money into Wizarding money. Ella was slightly frightened of dealing with the goblin by herself but figured that she’d manage. Goblins were creatures who worked at Gringotts. They were very small but still scared Ella. Their long fingers and claw like nails combined with sharp teeth and black eyes were frightening to wizarding children, and they’d grown up with them. Of course, Gringotts had human workers too, like Fred and George’s brother Bill but you mainly saw goblins.

It was almost her turn when panic started rippling through the crowd of witches and wizards who’d been going about their day only moments before. She looked around totally lost as to what caused the sudden spike of fear. All she knew was that people were running towards the door and she was in a direct path to be trampled. Ella tried to get out of the way of shoving hands but there was nowhere safe. She suddenly found herself lost in the middle of a swarm of people that were fighting to go…where exactly? She couldn’t even tell where the door was anymore. People pushed and shoved at all directions, seeming to be moving against each other in this swarm. It was absolute chaos unlike anything Ella had experienced before. She wondered for a moment if she was in a very vivid dream.

The noise in the room was so loud that she wished she could cover her ears, but there was too much shoving to get her hands close enough to her head without being knocked over. Ella needed to keep her hands free to keep from falling on the floor and being stepped on. The sound of a child crying made Ella want to help whoever it was, but she didn’t know where to turn. Everyone was shouting to the point it was unintelligible. Then she heard one strained voice over the rest.

“Break in!” Two simple words that had more impact on Ella then anyone else. While everyone was still running around Ella’s world slowed. She stopped in the middle of this mass. She wasn’t just in a dream, she was living her dream out in real time. This was something she had seen, yet hadn’t exactly seen. She had seen what caused this, but not this part of it. She had seen the man try to steal something from a vault, but not the panicked mob of people that resulted from it. All Ella could now think about was whether Dumbledore had gotten the package out of the vault like she had suggested or if he completely ignored that and now some stranger was using it to his advantage. Whatever _it_ was.

The people started to thin and only a few remained in the room. Ella turned to see the doors crowded with people squeezing out, yet also thinning out as they made their way back into Diagon Alley. Some remaining people in the bank rushed to the door, finally seeing an opening but others including Ella looked around for a threat. For someone to tell them to leave that instant. Nothing happened, so Ella went to the now empty goblin line and exchanged her money quickly with the rather remarkably calm creature. She thought he would’ve been very much ready to shoo them away to figure out what happened, but this goblin handled her request with a business as usual air. As soon as the transaction was finished, Ella went out and bought the supplies she had on her Hogwarts letter plus a special owl treat for Rowena who she felt she owed. She was incredibly disappointed to not run into anyone after Hagrid, but the streets were fairly empty after the Gringotts fiasco, but certainly not as empty as the life Ella was about to return to for the next month.


	5. The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

To say Ella was excited to go back to Hogwarts would be the understatement of the century. In her mind that would have been like asking if Lord Voldemort was just not a nice guy, obviously he was pure evil. And obviously, Ella was more ready to go back to Hogwarts than she’d ever been to go back to school. This had been the day Ella had been waiting for since she returned to the Muggle world. Ella refused to think of anything but her finally seeing her friends and owl after being apart for so long. 

Ella was up as early as she had been the year before. The sun hadn’t even come up yet, but Ella simply couldn’t wait for daylight to start her journey back to her friends. She triple checked that all her supplies were in her trunk and she made sure that she had Rowena’s cage clean and filled with the owl treats that would serve as a peace offering. Everything was in order, and Ella could have jumped for joy at how smoothly this was going for her.

She called a taxi to her house just as she had done to go to Diagon Alley the month before. She had a silent breakfast on her own while waiting for the driver to arrive. Ella didn’t know if her parents were still asleep or if they’d gone to work on a Sunday just to avoid her. Ella didn’t want to disturb them if they were still home, though she wished they would tell her goodbye. The fact they didn’t even bother to speak with her though she’d be gone for the whole school year was a depressing reminder of how much they didn’t want her now that she was a witch. The taxi arrived and she sat quietly in the backseat while the driver took her to the station. She really didn’t feel like talking to the driver as the conflict between her excitement and disappointment clashed.

This time when she arrived at the station, she didn’t have to sit at a bench confused. She knew precisely how to make it onto the platform. Ella still decided to wait until more people would have gone through before going in herself. She didn’t feel like being the only person there and having to wait for everyone else. Even worse would be if she got to the other side and the only people who were there were Slytherins or something awful like that. Ella knew waiting wouldn’t hurt anything, especially since she didn’t even know how early the barrier would open. The last thing she needed was to run into a brick wall this morning. So, she sat on a bench and thought about the dream she had the night before.

Like her other dreams they were rushed and panicked giving her a sense of life or death urgency, but she was starting to get more of a grasp on images. There were animals and people there and they all seemed to be connected in some way. Ella just couldn’t put together how they were mixed up with each other. Professor McGonagall and the tabby cat were the only things with an actual connection to her life. In another dream she saw Mr. Dursley yelling at Harry while he dangled from a broomstick above the Quidditch pitch. She didn’t understand if the two were future moments combined or if the dreams were getting confused as she tried digging deeper into her abilities. It terrified her as much as it had at the end of last year. The man in the turban was there too. He was the worst part of those dreams. He looked nice enough but there seemed to be more to him. Maybe she was just being silly, but she just felt like something about him was strange.

At about half past ten she saw Mr. Dursley himself pulling Harry’s trunk over to where she was sitting. Quickly Ella pulled her trunk and cage away from the bench and hid behind the barrier. She peeked her head around the corner and saw a worried Harry with his haughty uncle. She was nervous about being spotted as she didn’t know whether she was supposed to see him or not. Ella also hadn’t decided how much she could talk to him without giving away his future or trying to shield him from it.

“Well there you are, boy. Platform nine- platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don’t seem to have built it yet have they? Have a good term,” Mr. Dursley told Harry before leaving him alone on the platform.

Ella was fuming, how cruel was that to do to an eleven year old. She had half a mind to jinx him into oblivion, but contained her anger since that could get her expelled. Though, she also knew her parents had done something similar, not even coming with her. She still felt a strong urge to punch something or someone, but she shoved that feeling down and went through the barrier. She wondered if she should have helped Harry, but decided he would be alright, maybe even better off. She noticed the platform was already packed and her heart nearly burst at all the familiar faces.

“Hey, hey Ella!” A voice yelled behind her. She turned around to see Lee smiling at her.

“Lee!” Ella shouted in delight running over to hug him. Lee smiled brightly at her. He had gotten taller over the summer and his dread locks had gotten longer as well.

He looked at her, “You’ve gotten taller, I see. Though, you’re still just a pipsqueak. I can’t believe we couldn’t talk all summer. My summer was rather bland; I’m not sure if you did anything exciting or not, but I know I didn’t.”

Ella laughed, “How about I tell you about my summer after the train leaves the station and we find Fred and George. For now, let’s just find a compartment.”

They went on the Hogwarts Express and quickly found an empty compartment that could fit all their friends. They put their luggage in the racks, but Ella noticed Lee held on to a small box.

“What’s in there?” She asked him out of curiosity.

Lee smiled mischievously, “You’ll see in a bit.” With that he left the compartment and went to find other friends of his. Ella stood alone in the compartment for a minute while she fiddled with the bracelet Fred and George had given her for her birthday. She felt the doubts seep inside her brain, doubts that she had pushed away for months hoping that they wouldn’t come to be.

What if Fred and George no longer wanted to be her friend? Would Katie, Angelina, and Alicia still want to hang out with her after being apart for so long? What if a summer of no Ella made them realize she really was a freak even in the wizard world? Ella shook the thoughts out of her head. She couldn’t just think like that and expect things to be so horrible when it was most likely her imagination. Lee had accepted her with open arms and excitement after all. If he still liked her, the others had to as well.

Ella ran off of the train and looked around to see Mrs. Weasley standing next to Ginny and Ron. In a little cage sat Rowena who spotted Ella and began to hoot in excitement. The family looked up and saw Ella walking over to them. Mrs. Weasley let out a sigh of relief and smiled brightly at her.

“Oh, Ella it’s so good to see you, how have you been?” She asked pulling Ella into one of here motherly hugs.

Blushing Ella said, “Hello Mrs. Weasley, I’m doing good, thank you so much for keeping Rowena on such short notice. I feel awful about the whole thing.”

Mrs. Weasley simply gave Ella a motherly smile, “Don’t you worry, Rowena is a very kind and beautiful owl, and she even helped Arthur with several Ministry matters over the summer. She is always welcomed at the Burrow.” Mrs. Weasley then opened up the cage and the owl flew to Ella’s shoulder.

“Why hello there, how are you? Not too important now that you’ve been working for the Ministry to handle my letters, are you? Do you forgive me for having you spend the summer away from me?” She asked her little owl. Rowena nuzzled her head into the crook of Ella’s neck and she knew she was forgiven.

Ella looked up at Mrs. Weasley and asked, “Where are Fred and George?”

“Oh they’re putting trunks on the train, I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” then she chuckled, “you know, I could get into a lot of trouble by saying this but I think those two thought of nothing but you all summer long. For once they had a count down until school began because couldn’t wait to see you. It was rather touching actually.” Mrs. Weasley told her while smiling fondly.

“Look it’s Ella! Ella!” Ella turned around to see Katie, Angelina, and Alicia waving her over to them.

Ella looked over at Mrs. Weasley, “I’m sorry, they’re not going to stop until I go over there.”

Mrs. Weasley started to shoo Ella away, “I understand, no need to apologize. You go say hello to your friends and have a good term.”

“Thank you Mrs. Weasley.”

Ella gave the woman one last hug before running over to her friends and being crushed into another hug. They each held onto each other feeling extremely happy to be reunited after such a long time of being apart. Each one of them had grown taller and had a story to tell. They all went on to the Hogwarts Express together so Ella could show them where Lee and her had picked out their compartment. 

The girls got to the little room on the train and sat inside waiting for the guys to show up. Angelina had apparently spent all summer practicing Quidditch and sending letters to her friends. Katie and Alicia had done relatively the same and all three wanted to know why Ella hadn’t replied to their letters. It seemed Ella’s fears had mirrored her friend’s because they were worried she had decided she didn’t want to be around them anymore.

She wasted no time in telling them that her parents hadn’t wanted Rowena at their house and that she had spent the summer at the Weasley’s instead of being with Ella. The girls seemed to be pretty perplexed at the idea of not wanting an owl since they came from wizarding families. Ella had to explain that in the Muggle world they didn’t use owls to communicate.

“Wow, this little guy is a hit! I didn’t know so many people would think he’s cool,” Lee said slipping into the compartment with his box.

Ella rolled her eyes, “Can we see what’s in there now?”

Lee stuck out his tongue to her, “Fine, but try not to scream. I don’t want him to get anymore agitated.” He opened the box a crack and the four girls took a closer look.

Against Lee’s wishes Angelina and Katie screamed. Alicia only shuddered but still scooted away from the box all the same. Ella as always was different. It wasn’t that she liked big, hairy spiders or anything, she just wasn’t afraid of one that was being kept as a pet by one of her best friends. Though she certainly was not about to pet him, regardless of Lee’s instance that it was a sweet little spider.

The train started to move, and Lee took a seat next to the window while Angelina and Alicia stood up, “Sorry, but we need to go find Oliver and find out when Quidditch practices will start.”

“Oh, could I come with you? I want to find out when the tryouts will be,” Katie said standing up.

Alicia smiled at Katie, “Sure thing, we’ll see you guys a little later.”

They had only been gone for about two minutes before the twins popped into the compartment. Ella couldn’t help but notice that they had grown like everyone else had and their hair was a little longer as well. She felt flattered that their eyes lit up when they saw her. She hoped she wasn’t blushing too much.

“Well if it isn’t the dynamic duo themselves,” Ella joked to the twins.

“It is us –”

“Here in the flesh –”

“Ready for a good time.” The two finished together. Ella and Lee started laughing and soon the group was getting acquainted once more.

Ella was the first to ask Fred and George a question, “So, how’s Ron feel about going to Hogwarts?”

George laughed, “I think he’s scared out of his wits, but you know how he is. He’ll get over it and make friends soon enough, he is a Weasley after all.”

“Though, Ron doesn’t have our dashing good looks or stunning personality to help him out, eh, George?” Fred said with a wink towards Ella and Lee. Ella tried to ignore the swooping feeling in her stomach at the gesture.

Before Ella could reply a girl with bushy hair came into the room, “Have you seen a toad anywhere? My friend Neville lost his.”

“No, I’m afraid we haven’t, but we’ll let you know if we do,” she told the girl.

“Thank you,” the girl said leaving as quickly as she came. Ella, for once, wasn’t even fazed by knowing who this girl was before ever meeting her. It was part of her dreams and it was something she had gotten used to. She’d properly introduce herself to Hermione Granger after she’d been sorted into Gryffindor. It’d be nice to have another Muggle-born around to understand what it’s like to change your life completely. Ella knew she couldn’t get too close in case it would change the future, but she wanted to be friends with the younger girl. If her dreams were right, the two were going to have a lot in common.

The train chugged along and Ella had fun playing Exploding Snap with Fred, George, and Lee. After not playing for a couple months she was a little rusty but quickly relearned how to play the game. She still wasn’t good at all with the game, but Ella was fine using her Muggle-born status as an excuse. After all, they’d had all their lives to learn the game compared to the single school year Ella had. Their experience was practically cheating compared to hers, not that any of the boys actually believed she meant a word of that excuse. A little after the trolley came by the girls showed up again and the group started to talk altogether just like old times. 

Katie asked Ella, “Did you hear Zahareth isn’t coming to Hogwarts this year?”

Ella’s jaw dropped, “You’re kidding! Why not?”

Angelina rolled her eyes, “I heard his mother though there was too much bad blood here at Hogwarts.” 

“Hmm, almost sounds like you are talking about my mother, but I wouldn’t expect your type of riff-raff to talk to a witch like my mother,” a blond haired boy said walking into the compartment. There were two bodyguard looking boys with him and Ella immediately knew this boy was going to be exactly like Zahareth. She had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes at the predictability of the little brat in their doorway.

“Excuse me, but I don’t think we invited you in here,” Fred said to the little pest.

The first year just rolled his eyes, “Well, no need to ask who you are. A Weasley, obviously, I just had the joy of meeting your brother at the other end of the train.”

George glared at the boy, “No need to ask who you are either. Blonde hair, shifty eyes, and an up turned nose like your smelling something disgusting. A Malfoy obviously.”

Before the Malfoy could reply Ella looked toward one of his friends who was rubbing their knuckle and said, “You know, we have a rat in this cabin too. Only it’s a lot bigger.” His eyes grew wide and he nearly shoved Malfoy and the other boy outside of the compartment.

“Nice one,” Lee said laughing.

Ella noticed the absence of that tight feeling in her stomach. Perhaps if the event had already happened, she could talk about it? Ella didn’t like how easily she spoke to that boy about what she shouldn’t have known. It made her even more certain that Dumbledore had every right to be afraid of her abilities. She was proving it with each moment, but she would try better from now on. She had to.

As the train got closer to the station, they all got their robes on. Ella felt pride in having robes with Gryffindor colors already included. While the sorting ceremony wasn’t as terrifying as it was made out to be, she certainly didn’t want to have to go through it once more. They reached the platform and for the first time, Ella and Katie got to travel to the school with the older students instead of in the boats. She absolutely loved riding the horseless carriages up to the castle with her friends beside her. Even more so, she loved being able to see her home once more.


	6. The Sorting Hat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

It was one of those moments when the world stood completely still. Ella had been waiting and waiting for this, but now here she was. She stood in front of the Gryffindor table waiting for Hagrid to bring in the first years. The ghosts floated around without care passing through a person every so often causing them to feel as though they had been doused with ice water. She lightly touched a silver platter that would magically fill with food when the banquet began. She was so afraid that it would all disappear if she blinked, yet it wasn’t. Ella was back in the place she’d longed for. The time had really arrived, she was back at Hogwarts. 

All of the teachers sat along the table and she remembered each except for one man who sat next to Professor Snape. For a moment Ella was paralyzed in shock and fear. He was the man in the turban from her dream. He was the one who always showed up whenever Harry was dangling off the broom stick. The man looked over at Ella and she looked away quickly so she wouldn’t draw any attention to herself.

“Who is that man?” She asked Oliver Wood who was sitting a few seats away.

“Oh, I’ve met him; he’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I believe his name is Professor Quirrell and he stutters like mad. Seems as if one good curse would do him in, but he must be braver than what he appears to be if he’s teaching that class.” Oliver replied shrugging, he then turned around and started discussing Quidditch tactics with Angelina and Katie.

Before Ella could do anymore talking the doors opened and several terrified first years were led into the room. Professor McGonagall set down a stool and the tattered sorting hat. She wasn’t a confused first year this time. This time she was a second year who knew she could expect the hat to burst out in song.

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can top them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a steady mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

Once the hat’s mouth had closed the entire hall erupted in a thunderous applause. Ella thought the song was marvelous in showing what each house stood for as well as the hat himself. Each of the first years seemed to relax a bit at the fact all they had to do was try on a hat. Ella remembered how relieved she had been when she realized there was nothing more to finding your house then wearing that hat. She also remembered how the hat had been confused about where to put her and that she was nearly put in Ravenclaw.

“That song was different from last year’s,” she whispered in Fred’s ear.

He whispered back, “Apparently it’s different every year. Must be what it does for the rest of the time it just sits in Dumbledore’s office.”

“Abbott, Hannah.” McGonagall yelled and a blushing little girl with blonde pig tails came up to sit on the stool.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” The hat yelled and Ella watched the girl go off to the cheering Hufflepuff table.

Susan Bones became another Hufflepuff which made that table go even more nuts. Two Hufflepuffs to start was interesting, though Ella supposed she was just happy to not have more Slytherins. Even if that Malfoy boy and his two cronies were destined to be there. The other tables were looking at the first years trying to see which kid would be at their table. She could see their eyes also searching for Harry Potter, knowing he was supposed to be here this year. Next was Terry Boot who became the first Ravenclaw and Mandy Brocklehurst joined him right after.

“Brown, Lavender.” Professor McGonagall yelled into the crowd and after a few seconds a girl ran up to have the hat on her head.

“GRYFFINDOR!” Yelled the sorting hat and without thinking Ella and her house started to cheer loudly. She ran over to the table with a smile on her face and several older students welcomed her with handshake and hugs. Ella couldn’t help but giggle at Fred and George’s cat calls.

The enter room was silent until a student was sorted. Ella had been paying attention to the whole sorting ceremony. The first years were all being sorted and Ella watched the crowd grow smaller. She saw Slytherin gain Millicent Bulstrode, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Draco Malfoy, none of which really seemed to be surprising. Yet, Ella really wasn’t surprised at the hat shouting Slytherin just as it touched his head; he practically was its poster child. Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan became the last two Hufflepuffs.

She saw a sandy hair boy named Seamus go to Gryffindor and Hermione Granger was called. The hat took a while to sort her, but not as long as Ella because around four minutes she was sorted into Gryffindor. Everyone let out their breath, the older students waiting to see another hatstall. A boy named Neville was also sorted into Gryffindor, she couldn’t help but giggle as he ran off with the sorting hat still on. The table was in silence as two girls with the last name Patil were separated. Most of the eyes were on Fred and George as well as the girls. No one knew that the hat would separate twins and apparently Fred and George hadn’t known it could either. It was a rather surreal moment, but perhaps the Patil sisters weren’t as similar as Fred and George. Though, they definitely looked as similar as the two boys beside Ella.

“Potter, Harry.” McGonagall called to the stool. Ella immediately felt sorry for the kid; everyone was trying to see him and wondering if he was _that_ Harry Potter, which of course he was, the odds of there being two Harry Potters in this class of first years was absurd. He sat under the hat for a couple minutes and the entire hall held its breath.

The hat’s brim opened up and everyone leaned forward in anticipation, “GRYFFINDOR!” The entire table was on its feet cheering for its newest member.

“We got Potter! We got Potter!” Shouted the twins to the other tables as Harry shook hands with Percy. He sat down and Ella waited with the twins for Ron to be sorted. Ella had to admit she was a little worried for him. He was looking extremely green by now and Ella knew she had looked the same last year. Having a “W” last name certainly wasn’t easy at a time like this. But she knew he’d be a Gryffindor like his siblings. She just knew it.

“Weasley, Ronald.” He shakily went to the stool and sat down. Ella faintly heard the Weasleys at the table hold their breath.

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat yelled after nearly a second of him sitting on the stool. The last male Weasley was a Gryffindor and his brothers all stood up to welcome him. Ella gave him a smile as he slid into the seat next to Harry with a sigh. One more boy was sorted into Slytherin and the hat was taken back to Dumbledore’s office.

Dumbledore stood up and everyone looked over to him, “Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you.” He sat back down and Ella clapped her hands for her professor.

Some people would hate a man who would put a curse on you to prohibit you from using your power, but Ella found that he was a great man. Professor Dumbledore might have put her under her curse, but she found it was for the best. He could be right, telling people could destroy the future and she couldn’t stand being the one to do that. Ella knew how to keep secrets and she was sure that some moments might be hard to keep secret so she made sure that she had a plan.

“Look at all this food, I swear there’s more every year,” George said as both he and Fred piled their plates high with food.

Ella smiled, “I almost forgot how spectacular the food here was.” She put some roast beef, potatoes, and carrots on her plate. For some reason she had a sweet tooth that night and wanted to save room for dessert.

Fred leaned forward to talk to Ella, “So are you trying out for Quidditch this year? You said you were good on a broom last year.”

She shook her head, “No, I… I just don’t think I’m Quidditch playing material.” George looked at her curiously as though he didn’t entirely believe it, but he didn’t say anything. Ella glanced around at the first years around her and decided to do some listening.

“ _Nearly_ Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?” A boy with sandy hair asked the ghost of Gryffindor Tower. She quickly looked away because she knew what was coming next. The first years who had been watching were now in a stunned silence.

Fred laughed, “I think someone asks that question every year and the reaction is always the same.”

“Yeah, they’re always extremely grossed out since they had just been eating,” Ella said rolling her eyes in his direction. As she said it, the food disappeared off the trays and was replaced with the desserts. Ella wasted no time grabbing ice cream, apple pie, strawberries, and éclairs.

The sandy haired kid who Ella heard was named Seamus said to the people around him, “I’m half-and-half. Me dad’s a Muggle. Mum didn’t tell him she was a witch ‘til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him.” They all laughed at Seamus’s joke and then Ron turned to Neville.

“What about you, Neville?”

“Well, my gran brought me up and she’s a witch but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad.”

Ella thought it was a sweet gesture from his great uncle even if everyone knew toads were a very outdated pet. She would have loved for her parents to be pleased with her magic. She wondered about his parents though. He said he grew up with his gran so what happened to them?

The food disappeared and she couldn’t help but be relieved. She was starting to get very tired after eating so much. All the first years were also looking sleepy both at their table and around the hall. Ella couldn’t help but notice the significantly larger number of first years than her second year class. She’d known they weren’t a large group compared the Fred, George, and the rest of their friends’ year, but Ella couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by their small size. It must have been in the heat of the war with Voldemort and her year was lacking most. Though, she could only guess. Dumbledore started to stand up and the last of the chatter stopped.

“Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.” His blue eyes flicked over to Fred and George who were grinning mischievously.

“I also have been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.”

George rolled his eyes, “Oh yes, because no one ever does that.” Ella covered her mouth to muffle her laugh.

“Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.” A couple of kids laughed, but no one really knew what to do. Ella looked between George and Fred to see whether they thought it was a joke, but even they seemed to believe Dumbledore wasn’t bluffing. What could possibly be so dangerous in this school that it could kill someone? Why would Dumbledore keep something like that at the school?

“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!” Dumbledore announced in a now cheery tone that completely contrasted with his serious one that he had just moments before. Everyone who had sang it before cleared their throats knowing the tune they’d sing by the first years looked terrified not knowing what to do.

The old professor flicked his wand and yelled to the younger children, “Everyone pick their favorite tune and of we go!” Ella noted how Fred and George worked with their usual funeral march that seemed rather depressing at first but then you realized they were only doing it as a joke so people would start laughing. Ella just liked to sing the same melody as those around her. She hated when her voice stuck out, but to a certain third year, that voice always stuck out like the sweetest noise to ever float through his eardrums. They finished last with Dumbledore’s help and then everyone clapped for each other as they did Ella’s first year.

“Ah, music a magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!”

The Gryffindor table all got up at their own leisurely pace unless you were a first year. They were all ushered away from the table by Percy who wanted to take them to the tower as fast as he could.

“Bet you a galleon Peeves tries to attack the first years and Percy attempts to control him,” Fred said to Ella and George. 

“You forgot to add that Peeves won’t listen to him, and that’s a suckers bet. Just in case though, Ella the all-seeing dreamer…what do think my odds are?” George asked her. Ella froze completely terrified.

“Well, I suppose your odds are as good as whatever you think Peeves will do. It all really depends on what he does and how mischievous he’s feeling. There’s really no guessing about it,” she rambled feeling relieved that she hadn’t felt any pain, but she also didn’t give a straight answer.

The twins frowned at the response and Fred asked, “Is everything okay? Are you still dreaming or do you need to talk about a dream?”

She would’ve loved to talk about her dreams, but she couldn’t do that, “Well, I am a little bit, but not often and nothing big… I think I’ve grown out of it. You know, it was like an extra ability I had when I was younger and now it’s going away since I’m getting older.” They nodded in understanding. Neither seemed disappointed in her lie about losing her ability they just accepted what she said. She knew what she said was the exact opposite of what was happening; as she got older her dreams were becoming more alarming and more detailed. She saw something nearly every night and some things would be repeated, but other things would be brand new information. That thought was only proven more when she fell into dreams of what was to come that night.


	7. The Potions Master

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

Of all her dreams this one seemed to be the cherry on the very top of every single one she had ever had. The highest of all the nightmares; one that could put all the others to shame. Ella watched as Professor Quirrell glared at Harry who was about to fall off of a broom stick and she watched his turban twitch as though there was something under there. She ran from a troll who went into the girl’s bathroom and watched with wide, horrified eyes as the great beast attempted to kill Hermione as he smash through the wooden toilet stalls. Then the images started to flash around her. It was McGonagall and the cat, then rats, beetles, and dogs flashing around her as well as people she had never met before. She closed her eyes wishing it would all go away, but they just flashed around her. As they grew in intensity, they now mixed with the other images of the nearby future. She felt as if everything was getting confused, and she couldn’t separate one part of the future from the next. All of her dream took on a red tint and everything seemed to speed up to a sickening pace, Ella felt certain she was about to throw up.

She bolted upright in the bed of her dormitory to see that the sun had just started to rise on her first day of school. Ella was shaking and drenched in a cold sweat. The images were always getting more intense as though she was losing time in figuring them out. She didn’t even know where to begin. The fact the dreams were all tangled didn’t help her figure out what needed to be done, or even if she culd and should do anything. Ella washed off before heading to the Great Hall. She didn’t feel like eating, but did it anyways since she would probably gain an appetite in the middle of a class and not concentrate because of how much her stomach desired food. By the time Katie showed up she had managed to drink a glass of pumpkin juice and eat a slice of toast.

“You look awful, did you not sleep well?” Katie asked Ella.

“No, I didn’t at all,” she said forlorn to her.

Katie gave her a skeptic look, “Were you dreaming? Is something bad about to happen?”

Ella frowned; she hated having to lie so much to her friends, “No, I guess I’m just worried about the classes this year. I hear that they only get more difficult as you get older.”

Nodding she replied, “I’ve heard that too, but you’ll be fine. You were great at classes last year.” Ella nodded feeling guilty that she had lied yet relieved that Katie hadn’t questioned her like her other friends did.

“Well good morning you two, ready for the school year to officially begin? I’m worried about what my schedule will look like,” Angelina said slipping into the empty seat beside Katie.

“I just don’t want to have Snape today; that would be a horrible way to start out the school year. I can already hear him saying ten points from Gryffindor,” Katie groaned.

Just then McGonagall came over to the girls and passed out the schedules they would be going by for the rest of the year. Angelina quickly studied her schedule trying to memorize it so she wouldn’t need it the whole day. Ella and Katie sat there looking at the pieces of parchment not wanting to look at the writing that was on them.

“You look, I can’t do it,” Katie said covering her eyes with both of her hands. Ella looked down at her schedule and nearly laughed out loud.

“No worries Katie we have our favorite teacher first,” Ella told her in the most clam voice she could muster.

“Really?” She asked grabbing her schedule and looking at it. He face dropped and she said, “Double Potions, first class on the first day back with the Slytherins. On what planet is Snape our favorite teacher?”

Ella laughed, “The one where we’re both snotty Slytherins. C’mon it won’t be that bad now that Zahareth is gone. I bet the year will be a breeze without him around to ruin everything.”

“Is that him?”

“He’s next to the boy with red hair.”

“Do you think he remembers anything?”

“What kind of magic do you think he knows already?”

Ella looked down the table and saw Harry and Ron sitting there looking at their first schedules. Everyone else in the Hall was craning their necks trying to see the boy with the lightning scar. She felt bad for him, he hadn’t asked for the fame and it was obvious he wasn’t really enjoying having everyone ogle at him.

“Oh look it’s the great Harry Potter, why don’t we all turn into bumbling idiots,” Fred snapped at a couple of Hufflepuff kids who were openly staring at him.

“Finally someone says something; they were driving me insane,” Ella said rolling her eyes in the direction of the now ashamed students.

George shrugged, “How are the schedules looking?”

Angelina quickly replied, “Oh, they’re looking pretty good for this year, really nice. We’ve got Herbology first today and I remember you saying you were going to take Car of Magical Creatures so we both have that afterwards.”

Neither of the boys thought too much of Angelina’s hurried outburst, but Ella gave Katie a look. Both of them knew that something was up with her. No girl rushes a conversation so much unless something is going on. Plus, Angelina has always been calm, cool, and put together. This was absolutely not like the friend they knew.

Ella sighed, “Sorry to go so soon, but we need to get our supplies for potions and our other classes, so we don’t earn a negative number of house points.”

“I’ll go with you, I’m full anyways,” Angelina said standing up to leave the twins alone.

Once the three got out of earshot Ella looked at Angelina and said, “Now, what was that?”

She looked confused for a second but one look at Katie and Ella’s faces told her all she needed to know, “It was nothing, I was just trying to tell them our schedule, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Nothing doesn’t try to rush when she speaks,” Ella said.

In a very Weasley twin like fashion Katie finished, “Or blush like crazy.”

“Fine, fine you got me. I may have a slight crush,” she admitted.

“Oh, on who? On who?” Katie asked nearly jumping up and down.

Angelina blushed a vivid red, “Well on George actually. He’s really sweet and cute, but I sometimes can’t tell him apart from Fred, which I’m not too happy about, but I know I like George.”

Ella smiled widely, “That’s so cute! You two would be quite the pair.”

“You really think so? I mean, I do, but if you crush on someone you normally always think that,” she said still rambling.

Katie giggled, “I definitely think that you two would be a great match!”

She was smiling like mad now, “That’s great, except for the fact that most boys don’t think that way yet. I swear they’ve got the same brain capacity as trolls.”

“Most definitely,” Ella said giggling like Katie. She loved the idea of two of her closest friends becoming a couple. She thought it would be a perfect match. After grabbing all the supplies they needed Katie and Ella went their separate way from Angelina after reminding her to just be herself.

Throughout the girl’s potion class the Gryffindor’s were taunted and the Slytherin’s praised. The day didn’t seem to get much better after that. They constantly received homework assignments, new spells, and shortly learned that the second year was definitely more advanced than the first. By the end of the week Ella was bogged down with homework and a bit under the weather from all of her dreams. It was hard to not burst out screaming that the teacher in the turban seemed suspicious to her or that somehow a troll would get into the castle. Most days she would sit and wonder if she could write out what was going to happen, but her courage would always falter as soon as she got a quill in her hand. She wasn’t supposed to interfere, the future was set for a reason. Dumbledore hadn’t wanted her to reveal the future, so she was going to keep it that way. She could hardly pretend she knew what was best at twelve years old, especially when the future looked so terrfying.

Fred and George hadn’t asked her about her dreams, but she could tell both were doubtful of her original statement. She knew that they no longer believed she wasn’t dreaming. Ella knew the lie was obvious now as she continued to look more tired each day. The beds at Hogwarts were like a dream. She had no reason to not sleep well at night, meaning she had to have been dreaming. She was worried that the twins would think she didn’t trust them since she lied about not seeing the future. In a way she wanted to tell them about the curse, but how could she tell them?

_“Hey, did you guys know Dumbledore put this spell on me so that if I tell anyone about my dreams I’ll be subjected to terrible pain?”_ That wasn’t going to go very well. Sure, there were probably millions of ways she could break it too them more lightly, but they would take it the same way. They were so protective over the people they were friends with or cared about that they would probably attempt to jinx Dumbledore to death if they knew. The last thing she needed was the twins to be giving Dumbledore hell because they thought what he did was wrong. There was no way she’d be able to convince them that she had wanted this curse and it would be fine. They might have idolized Dumbledore like many others, but Ella had an inkling it could only go so far.

Studying was dull Friday evening, not even the twins had room to crack a joke. Ella, Lee, Katie, and the twins were all studying in the common room. The second years had a long parchment due on Monday about trolls from Professor Quirrell which Ella found extremely unsettling. The thought of that being more than a coincidence crossed her mind, but Quirrell was so fidgety and frightened all the time, Ella didn’t think he would be able to bring a troll to the school. He looked as though spotting his own shadow would cause him to die of fright. The third years were studying different monsters for Care of Magical Creatures.

“That’s it, I’m done reading and writing and studying for tonight. I’ve got the rest of the weekend for that, who wants to play Wizards Chess or something?” Lee asked slamming his book shut. Katie and the twins did the same then looked at Ella expectantly.

“I suppose I could watch,” she said so they wouldn’t get mad at her or think she didn’t want to be their friend. Ella mostly wanted to study on her own, but it was a Friday evening, so perhaps this wouldn’t hurt. She watched Lee and Katie fiercely battle until Lee finally beat her. She immediately demanded a rematch, but Lee wouldn’t have it. The common room was nearly empty by the end of the game and everyone was exhausted from a week of getting used to being back in school. 

They all told each other good night and headed to their dorm rooms. Ella stayed awake for hours. It was hard to fall asleep when all she got was nightmares and riddles. She wished she could just be normal, but not like Muggles, she wanted to be a normal witch. It was so unfair that she couldn’t fit in no matter what life she was trying to live. She sighed and closed her eyes inviting the future world into her dreams.


	8. The Midnight Duel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

“Look, Ella! Remember when we did this!” Katie said excitedly. She was looking at the notice board where a flyer for the first year’s flying lesson was pinned. Of course Ella remembered, it was difficult to forget the wonderful feeling that she had while being in the air. Sure, she didn’t want to fly all the time since she did like having a sense of the ground below her, but she would have loved to play Quidditch with her friends. It would be lovely to have the chance to try. She could’ve been the team’s Seeker, and then Harry would never be placed in trouble. He wasn’t even supposed to play, but that was the way the future was heading, and she couldn’t stop it. That was another thing about her ‘gift’ that she couldn’t stand. She couldn’t even attempt to join the sport she loved without setting the world out of balance. It was a real pain in Ella’s mind.

“Remember that? I’ll never forget Zahareth’s face! It was amazing, he seemed so shocked that we could fly better than him,” Ella responded giggling.

“Serves him right for being such a git,” Katie replied still seeming to hold a grudge. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t even at the school anymore. The two walked down to the Great Hall and Ella sat next to Fred and George while Katie sat next to Lee and Angelina. Ever since she had confessed her crush Angelina had tried to separate herself from George. She didn’t want things to be too awkward. Ella wished she would realize that if she pushed herself away that could cause complications in the friendship between George and Angelina, but Ella wanted to stay out of it. She hadn’t seen the two together, but she hadn’t seen them separate either, so Ella felt happy to be in the dark for once.

Ella looked up and down the table to see the first years doing a myriad of things that circled around the flying lesson. Some were boasting about how amazing they were at flying while others were nervous as could be then there was Hermione who was reading a book about it. Ella wanted to warn her that a book would do nothing, but decided that might freak her out so she kept her mouth closed. Hermione definitely seemed like the kind of girl who wanted a book about life if she could manage it.

The day went by agonizingly slow for Ella as she stared off into space during her lessons. She wondered what was going on with the first year’s lesson and if anything exciting was going to happen. It reassured her when she realized she was going to be in class with Professor Quirrell when the lesson was going on. She kept thinking about her vision of Harry on the team and how certain she was that he beat the no first years rule. It started to feel silly that she thought she’d seen the team for this year. Harry couldn’t be on the team, he might have looked the same, but sometimes people don’t change much within a year. Besides, first years were _never_ on the Quidditch team meaning Quirrell wouldn’t be anywhere near Harry while he was on a broom until at least next year. That would buy Ella some time to figure out what was going to happen. Maybe she could even be the Seeker this year because she hadn’t actually seen the real team. She’d just have to give it up next year for some reason, she could probably argue her studies were getting in the way. Ella made up her mind that she would go to tryouts just so she could have the chance to fulfill her Quidditch dream.

When the class was over, and Ella and Katie left the room the halls were buzzing. The girls made their way through the hall to try and get to the Common room. They wanted to put their stuff away before their next class. All the textbooks were much to heavy to carry around. She hadn’t realized being a second year meant every book had to be twice as large. Ella could sense a shift in the air as though something had happened that was big, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Had the troll already arrived? The energy was more excited than frightened, so that couldn’t be.

Angelina came running up to the girls, “Did you hear what happened?”

“No, what’s going on?” Katie asked her clearly confused. Ella began to worry about her feelings of the air changing. Maybe something bad had happened.

“Harry Potter is the new Gryffindor Seeker!” She nearly shouted. Both Katie and Ella’s mouths dropped. Katie’s was in shock and Ella’s was in shock but also fear and disappointment. Her full year turned into a couple months and her dream felt as shattered as her dreams at night were.

“He has to be the youngest in about a century! First years are never on the team; he must be amazing,” Katie said in shock and awe. It was an impressive feat, not to mention it would stop people from only looking at him as the baby who defeated Voldemort. Ella tried to look on the bright side of the matter but could feel a sadness creeping in. She’d been so hopeful that she might have had a chance.

“I know, it’s been a huge shock, but he’s going to be playing with us,” Angelina told Katie excitedly. Katie smiled but Ella felt confused. Her stomach dropped even further, which she hadn’t believed possible.

She turned to Katie, “Playing with us? You didn’t tell me you made the team.” She was pretty hurt by that fact. She hadn’t realized she’d missed the tryouts.

Katie’s face became filled with guilt, “I didn’t? I’m so sorry, Ella I forgot to tell you. When we spoke about tryouts, he said it wasn’t necessary. He had seen me play before at some of the Quidditch practices. He just wanted to skip the trials for Chasers in order to get down to business faster. I really thought you knew. I’m sorry.”

Ella wanted to be mad, but she hadn’t even been very forward with Katie, so how could she be upset? She accepted the apology easily. She wanted to keep her friends, especially Katie since she was her first best friend. Katie and Angelina wanted to go find Oliver in the Common room, but Ella didn’t feel like she could face him. She was so disappointed. She decided to go to the Great Hall for some food instead and leave her friends to it. She knew there was nothing she could do anyways without disrupting the future. Her Quidditch aspirations were gone as soon as they’d entered her mind. She made her way out of the Common Room and down the halls. Within no time a certain two red heads were next to her and they walked into the Great hall together. When the two spotter Harry they rushed over to him and Ella followed, reluctantly.

“Well done,” George whispered to him. “Wood told us. We’re on the team too – Beaters.” Ella grabbed a sandwich off of a tray and ate a little bit of it. She wanted to keep herself preoccupied.

“I tell you, we’re going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year,” Fred told him. “We haven’t won since Charlie left, but this year’s going to be brilliant. You must be really good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.”

“Anyways, we’ve got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he’s found a new secret passageway out of the school.” This was intriguing to her. She loved when she went exploring with the twins. She had the pathways almost as memorized as the twins, but not quite. It would be a great distraction for her.

“Bet it’s that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.” George said turning around with the other two. Ella was walking in front of the twins and accidentally bumped into the blond kid she saw on the train. The Malfoy boy. 

“Watch it,” he snapped at her then walked over to Harry.

“I bet they’re going to have a very sweet conversation, exchanging nice happy thoughts, don’t you think?” She asked the twins sarcastically. They both laughed and left the hall to go find Lee.

Halfway there Ella turned to Fred and asked, “What did you mean since Charlie was here? He just left last year.”

Fred looked a bit embarrassed and replied, “Well it sounded more interesting the way I said it. It built Charlie up to seem more important you know.”

George nodded, “We wanted to give Harry a confidence boost to help him out with any nerves he might have.”

She rolled her eyes, “I think you need to work on your methods just a bit.”

“Well, what do we need to do about you then?” Fred asked. Ella looked over at him confused, George doing the same.

“What do you mean?”

Fred shrugged, “You looked like you were upset before. When we were talking to Harry and a bit before that. Bad lesson?”

“Oh...right, yes.” Ella glanced at the floor. She hadn’t realized he would notice something like that. She needed to get better at controlling her emotions. This was relatively small, but in the future, what if it was bigger?

George shook his head, “Sorry, Ella. I don’t believe it was just a lesson. That doesn’t seem right. You can tell us, you know?”

Ella paused for a moment, standing in the hallway. She wanted to let the twins into her life and this seemed like a relatively easy way to do so, but she couldn’t have them running off to Oliver and telling him that Harry couldn’t be on the team. Who could say if Ella even was better than Harry? She could have been a terrible Seeker, there was no way to really know since she’d only rode a broom the once. If Gryffindor could win with Harry, she couldn’t get in the way of that or the future.

She took a deep breath, “Look, I don’t want you two to make any sort of fuss about it, but I just... I had been thinking about trying out to be the Seeker for the Quidditch team. So, it’s just a little disappointing to not be able to, alright? But Harry has the spot, and that’s that. I wouldn’t want to take it away from him.”

“Sorry, Ella, we wish we’d known. We would’ve mentioned it to Oliver,” George said to her.

Fred nodded, “No one would’ve just given it to Harry if we’d known.”

Ella frowned, “I really hadn’t even realized until today. I just started thinking about it when I saw the flying lessons for first years and remembered how much I enjoyed being on a broom. It’s my own fault for being indecisive. In any case, I’m sure Harry must be fantastic to be on the team already. I’m sure the further we get into the year, it’ll be a blessing with the workload.”

“I’m sure you could’ve handled it,” Fred said. Ella ducked her head down as she felt a blush creep up her neck.

“Well, we’ll never know now, so that’s that,” she said, noticing how her words came out a little too fast. She took a deep breath to steady herself as they got closer to Lee. They got to the statue and she heard George tut under his breath.

“What do you think? Pretty cool, right?” Lee asked the twins. Ella thought it was a pretty neat, but she loved all the passageways. Most of her childhood was spent trying to find any hiding place she could so she could read, but Hogwarts had shown her a whole world of secret passages and tunnels. It was amazing to her. She didn’t really need to hide anymore, but it was still fascinating that the castle itself was a mystery.

The twins let out a sigh and George told him, “Sorry, Lee, but we’ve already spotted this one. Nice try though, it was pretty hard to find.”

Lee frowned but didn’t get too dejected, “Oh well, better luck next time I suppose. Let’s go back to the Common room or something.” They all went up there and Ella saw a new notice on the board.

“What’s that?” She said pointing at it. The four of them crowded around it and the third years became extremely excited.

“This is the announcement for the first trip to Hogsmeade!” Fred said excitedly.

Then George explained, “It’s the all magical village near the school. Third years can visit it during the year if their parents give them permission.”

“Oh, so I still have to wait a year,” she said a bit forlorn.

“Unfortunately, but we’ll bring you back loads of candy,” Lee told her in an attempt to cheer her up. It did work a bit, who could stay sad when magical candy was involved? She could still spend time with Katie after all. She found at moments like these she was extremely pleased to not have friends who are only a year older. She could imagine being left alone her last year, but she didn’t have to because she had Katie and it was a long time from now. Instead she should be happy she has third year friend to bring her and Katie sweets from a magical village.

Fred smiled, “Looks like it’s on Halloween, so treat after we get back is probably a better way to go. You don’t want to spoil your appetite. That feast is the best remember?”

There was no way she could forget about the feast that came from last year. So many treats and festivities; it had been more fun than any other moment in her life. She didn’t want to eat too much beforehand and then be too full for the delicacies that night had to offer.

“Well, I suppose you’re right,” Ella told them smiling. The three stayed up for a while after that but ended up going to bed sooner than usual. Some strange feeling came over Ella as though she shouldn’t be there, so she left. For once she didn’t get any form of dream. It was a nice change, but a bit unsettling. It was almost like the calm before the storm. 


	9. Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

That morning all you could smell throughout the halls were the foods that were going to be on the plates that night. No one could keep their attention on the classes so teachers just gave them fun activities so no one would be bored. She couldn’t help but wonder what the night would bring. She knew the candy would be as excellent as the food, but she wanted to spend the night joking with her friends since they hadn’t been altogether since the train ride. She really missed talking with Alicia who was already pretty quiet, but nice all the same. Halloween was one of Ella’s new favorite holidays. When she lived with her parents she was never allowed to go out except when she was younger and her parents were a bit less strict. They wanted to be good parents for a couple of years before they lost interest and decided to try and squash the fairy tales out of her.

At the end of the day the older kids were all dying for the feast and couldn’t wait to get there and taste all of the wonderful foods that had been wafting through the halls all day. Ella wondered if the kitchen did that on purpose just to make the kids hungrier or if the food was just that good. When Ella and all of her friends got to the Great Hall they saw live bats decorating the ceiling and flying all over the hall. She hoped they were charmed to not attack anyone or relieve themselves on their meals. The pumpkins glowed with lit candles and all of their faces had a new expression. Some were frightening while other were happy. She sat down with Fred on her right and Angelina on her left. George sat across from Angelina and they were holding their first conversation in over a week. Lee sat in front of Fred and Katie was in front of Ella. Alicia sat next to Lee. The group talked, laughed, and ate the magnificent banquet that was on shining gold platters. The moment was perfect none of the kids would deny.

“You should’ve seen the joke shop there, so much stuff,” Fred gushed.

George nodded, “Don’t know how anyone thought it was a good idea to let us go down there. The only thing working in their favor is that we can only buy so much stuff each time we go.”

“I personally thought the Three Broomsticks was the best of the places,” Alicia said.

Angelina nodded, “Butterbeer. That’s something even my parents used to talk about at home. Wouldn’t let me have any until I got to Hogsmeade. Like it was a rite of passage.”

Katie huffed, “I can’t wait until we’re allowed to go. Can’t you just imagine it, Ella?”

Ella nodded, “It’ll be amazing!”

Suddenly Professor Quirrell came bursting into the hall with his turban askew and face ashen. Ella had seen him like this in her dreams, but her breath still caught in her chest. Katie stood up and leaned closer to Ella to get a better look at him. She wanted to pull her back into her seat, keep Katie right where she could see her. The hall went completely silent as everyone watched the strange sight. If his face hadn’t displayed so much terror Ella was sure the school would’ve been laughing at the odd spectacle. No one but Ella knew the grave situation they were about to be placed in.

“No, it can’t happen now. It can’t,” Ella whispered under her breath in horror.

He ran until he got up to Professor Dumbledore’s chair at the front of the room. Every eye followed the man, even Ella’s. She felt frozen to her spot, unable to even start getting people to move. All she could do was watch as her past dreams and everyone’s future caught up to the present.

He slumped against the table “Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know.” Quirrell gasped out.

Then the teacher passed out in a dead faint.

The reaction was deafening. Every student seemed to be screaming in fear and panic. People were confused about what to do and everyone was trying to ask what was going to happen at once. Ella sat as still as stone not knowing how to react. She had seen the troll’s coconut head and lumpy gray skin. She knew he stood nearly twelve feet high and she knew he most certainly wasn’t in the dungeon.

“The bathroom,” she whispered, and felt a tweak at her side like someone had poked her with a sewing needle. Her hand shot to the spot and she realized that it was the curse. She wondered if that was what it felt like to speak aloud about the future. If it wasn’t as severe of information, maybe she could spill it. She could handle a sewing needle prick. She’d gotten those mending clothes after Allison or her cronies had caused her to rip a sweater or pair of pants. Ella thought for a brief moment, she could help with the troll. She could make sure that Harry, Hermione, and Ron were nowhere near it. Dumbledore set off several purple firecrackers to make the crowd fall silent.

“Prefects,” he rumbled, “lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!” Fred and George weren’t able to suppress their groans no matter how frightened they were when Percy leapt up and began giving out orders.

“Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I’m a prefect!”

George smacked his palm to his forehead, “Imagine in a crisis like this he still manages to act like a prat!”

Fred gave his brother a mischievous grin as they were walking back to the Common room, “Maybe we should go look for the troll.” Ella wanted to protest but she felt she might be sick for several reasons. One was her dream coming true and she believed the other might have been a side effect of the curse.

Alicia spoke up for her, “You are not going to do that! C’mon you two, you’re smarter than that.” Ella nodded vigorously and was glad that they complied and followed the rest of the House to the Common room. When everyone was there Ella sank into one of the comfy chairs and closed her eyes to block out any light. Her nausea was getting worse and she felt a huge migraine surfacing in the back of her head. She had uttered two words about a future she’d vividly seen for the past several months, and this was what she got. She had no idea what it would be like if she said anything more.

Her friends tried getting her to eat but she would just give a slight shake of her head to signify that she wanted nothing to do with food at the moment. They were all worried and she was a bit flattered by that, but at the same time she only wanted to go curl up in her bed. The only reason she stayed in the Common room was so she could watch to see if Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going to make it back safely. Finally Hermione came in through the portrait hole and not long after Ron and Harry entered.

“I’m sorry; I need to go to bed. I’m not feeling well at all,” she told her friends excusing herself. She hurried up to her dormitory and changed to go to bed. She was laying down when two girls walked in.

“We know you aren’t asleep, and we know you’ve been lying,” Katie said from the corner of the room. She wasn’t quite sure who was included with the “we”, but she knew she may have to explain herself or lie a lot.

She sat up a bit in her bed feeling a little better, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Angelina spoke up this time, “You’ve been having dreams and you lied to all of us about them going away. Katie says that you’ve been very restless when you sleep and you look as though you haven’t had a good night’s sleep in months. We can all tell; Fred, George, Lee, and even Alicia and she never even sees you.”

“We didn’t want to say anything, but something is up and we all can tell. We know you haven’t been honest, and tonight you really are scaring us,” Katie said, crossing her arms.

“Okay, I lied about my dreams; enough with the guilt. Dumbledore told me at the end of last year to try and pretend they were gone. He said tell no one new and at least try to pretend I’m not dreaming anymore. I was just trying to listen to him and act normal,” she said holding her head in her hands while looking down at her bed sheets.

Katie looked at her sympathetically, “We’re your friends Ella, you don’t have to say what you’re dreaming, but you don’t have to lie that you aren’t. We aren’t that stupid we can tell when something up with you. That’s something that just comes with being close friends.”

Ella nodded, “You’re right, I should’ve told you. I’m sorry; I can tell Lee, George, Fred, and Alicia tomorrow morning. Good night.”

“Not so fast; I’m not done questioning you yet,” Angelina said. “You flinched like you were in pain after saying the bathroom. Katie agreed with me that we both heard you say that. Rumors are starting to go around that the troll destroyed the girls’ bathroom. You obviously knew about it before hand so why didn’t you tell someone and why were you hurt?”

Suddenly becoming very preoccupied with anything other than the girls Ella said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. I didn’t flinch in pain.”

Both girls gave her a look of disbelief and Katie said, “Oh really? Then why do you feel so sick now? Something is wrong and we can tell.”

She was going to lie, but it seemed too rude. She needed an outlet to tell that way someone knew why she wouldn’t say anything. She couldn’t have everyone hate her because she wouldn’t say anything. Ella couldn’t bear the thought of losing her friends because she pushed them too far away. She was sick of pretending that everything was alright.

“I’ll tell you, but you can’t get upset or angry or anything. You have to just accept it.” The girls nodded. “Dumbledore put a curse on me at the end of last year. I asked him to because there was too much of a responsibility with keeping the future a secret. Every time I give out information on the future I’ll feel some sort of pain. The pain will vary between how big the event is and how much I reveal. Today I just said two words about a minor event. It felt like a pin pricked my side then I got really sick, but I have to do this because anything I say now could affect how the future will turn out,” Ella told her friends hoping they would understand.

“Why would he even suggest that? How horrible could the future be? I mean there’s a whole class dedicated for telling the future at school and he doesn’t bother with putting that to rest!” Angelina said furiously.

Ella shook her head, “I think that there’s a difference in what I can do and Divinations, but I asked him to put it on me, he was the one who was reluctant.”

“But he was the one who suggested it, right? I can hardly believe no matter how smart you are, Ella, that you knew about this curse?” Angelina said, hands on her hips. Ella wanted to argue but didn’t know how. Angelina was right.

Katie seemed to understand what Ella was saying, “I guess I would have done the same. It can’t be easy to know so much and not be able to tell. I think I’d need a sort of push to not say anything too.”

“Exactly, that’s why I did it!” Ella exclaimed feeling relieved that someone knew how she felt at the end of her first year. She couldn’t stop the smile forming at her lips.

“But why didn’t you tell us about the curse?” Angelina asked still feeling a bit left out.

“Think about how you reacted to it. I can tell you were mad at Dumbledore and wanted to put a stop to it or yell at him for doing that. Now think about what Fred or George would’ve done with that knowledge. They would’ve broken down his door and demanded he take the curse off me. I couldn’t risk that happening,” she explained to the girls who were now nodding slowly.

“I know what you mean; they’re pretty rash when they want to be. I was worried they would actually go after the troll,” Angelina said sounding a bit worried.

“At least we know now,” Katie said trying to brighten the mood. It worked for Ella who was glad she finally had someone who knows what she’s going through. She figured she would tell Lee, Fred, George, and Alicia that she was still dreaming in the morning, but for now she just wanted to sleep. None of them had to know about the curse. That would remain the secret shared between her, Dumbledore, Angelina, and Katie.


	10. Quidditch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

Soon enough the weather turned cold and frosty. Ella had always loved the look of winter but often wished she wasn’t so cold in the weather. She would sit in the window sill alone for hours just staring out at the grounds through the frosted panes. To her the days were ticking until the first snow graced the ground with its presence. She loved watching the small clouds float to the ground. Watching the intricate patterns plaster themselves on the window. Ella could stare at the designs for hours and it wouldn’t be enough to fully appreciate the delicate art on each flake. Hagrid would be out in his moleskin coat defrosting the brooms and Quidditch field to be ready for the games to begin. The first game would be in two days on Saturday, the match was Gryffindor against Slytherin.

Ella couldn’t be more afraid.

The match would mean Harry being put in potential danger while Ella was being put in a position where she could be hurt again. Lee decided she would be next to him in the announcer’s area so she wouldn’t have to be alone. Her friends had completely understood why she avoided telling them that she was still dreaming, and neither of the girls had uttered a word about the curse. She couldn’t stand being in Defense Against the Dark Arts anymore knowing that the man teaching it was playing a lie. She wanted to tell Dumbledore, but she didn’t know how evil he was or whether her dreams were being misleading. She was dreaming about so many things now that it was hard telling one event from the other. At least she was no longer dreaming about the troll; that event was over with and it seemed like Ron and Harry were now friends with Hermione. Her dreams now revolved around the Quidditch fiasco, the blurred animal dreams, and Snape being rude to Harry, something that was certainly new.

Sure, Snape wasn’t her favorite professor, but he’s the one that had come to her aid when she needed to escape her family. He told her that she was a witch. She had the faint impression of dreaming something complex about him before, but she couldn’t remember any of it. All she knew was she had a feeling deep down that he was on the good side, even if he wasn’t the best person himself. Dumbledore trusted him, though, and she was determined to trust the wise man herself. She didn’t know why his rudeness was showing up in her dreams. Snape was rude to everyone who wasn’t from Slytherin, but Harry seemed to be on an entirely different level, along with Neville Longbottom. Ella sometimes wished she didn’t have her curse solely to defend the boys from Snape’s cruelty.

While going to the library Ella saw the trio of first years sitting up against a small jam jar filled with an enchanted flame. It seemed like a rather brilliant idea, but Professor Snape noticed the guilty looks on their young faces and made his way over to them. He was limping which made Ella wonder what he had done. She stood frozen where she stood watching the teacher and the first years.

“What’s that you’ve got there, Potter?” He asked Harry with an extra hint of ice in his voice she had never heard him use to any other Gryffindor.

Harry held up the book in his hands. It was Quidditch Through the Ages.

“Library books are not to be taken outside the school,” said Snape. “Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor.” Ella’s eye brows drew together in thought. She had never heard of that rule, but apparently she wasn’t the only one who thought it was fake.

“He’s just made that rule up,” Harry muttered angrily and Ella felt he was mad for a good reason. That teacher was certainly out of line and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. She decided to go pay the Head of Slytherin a visit and ask what Harry ever did to deserve such ludicrous behavior.

When she arrived at the dungeons she decided it’d be best to at least pretend she was there for a less meddling reason. She figured that she might as well act like she needed help with a homework assignment. She knocked on the door to his office and listened for his reply to come in.

“Miss. Worthington, to what do I owe the please?” He asked sarcastically. Ella wrinkled her nose not liking how he treated the kids in her house. He seemed like a nice person before she was sorted, he even told her he liked the name of her owl. An owl named for Ravenclaw, not Slytherin.

“Professor, why are you so rude to Harry Potter?” She asked him without using any of the original pretext she once thought of using. She had long forgotten her story about not knowing how to complete a homework assignment. The injustice forced her tongue before she had the chance to think about the context and situation she was in. Speaking so boldly to a professor. What would her parents say if they could hear her?

The professor raised his eyebrows, “That would be none of your business, now wouldn’t it?” He had her there. “If that was all then I think you should go back to your Common room before it gets late.”

She really was about to go but a thought occurred to her, “The dog, it got ahold of your leg. Didn’t it Professor? That’s why you’ve been limping; it got your leg.”

“How do you know about the dog?” Snape asked her amazed and furious all the same. Ella was quite shocked as well. The idea just came to her. She hadn’t dreamt about any three headed dogs, but right in her mind came the image of the dog. She knew it was true.

Looking up at the man who was shocked she said, “You wanted to check on whatever’s in vault 713 or was there but now is here, I dreamt there was something in there. I told Dumbledore to have it moved and I was there the day of the break in. I don’t know what it is, but I think he wants it too. You don’t trust him either – do you Professor?”

Snape knew who the girl was thinking of and was as astounded by her abilities now as he was the first day he met her. She was always proving to know things and see things others never saw. He knew his limp was obvious, but the reason for his limp was not.

A knock was on the door and Snape told the mysterious girl, “That would be Mr. Filch.”

In the seat she was silent for a moment then whispered, “I know.” She got up and left the room without any answers. She had tried being as vague as possible, but she felt a slight stomach ache. Ella was surprised she wasn’t feeling more after blatantly discussing parts of what had to be the future mixed with the past. Yet, she hadn’t dreamt these things. Did the curse only affect her if she talked about her dreams instead of things that just appeared? She went to the dorm room for a restless night of broom dreams knowing that the next day could possibly be worse than anything she had ever imagined.

It was indeed stressful to wake up and act cheerful with the rest of the school when she knew something no one else did. Ella ate a bite of toast, wished all her Quidditch playing friends good luck, and followed Lee out to the stadium. They got into the stands and sat down waiting for the game to begin. It was a chilly morning and Ella couldn’t help but watch the teacher’s section nervously. Professor Snape and Quirrell were there.

Madam Hooch was the referee who stood in the center of the field as the teams came out of their locker rooms. The sight made the crowds hush a bit. All you could see was the clad of green emerging from one end and then the group of red on the other side. Ella forgot her fears for a moment and felt the excitement take hold, though a spike of bitterness also crept in imagining if this could have been her first game.

“Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you,” she was obviously talking more to the Slytherin team, but it was a fruitless attempt. “Mount your brooms, please.”

“This is it,” Lee whispered to her. She barely heard him. Her heart was pounding as she watched the match begin. Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her whistle and the brooms shot into the air with the different enchants equipment launching into action. Lee was right with it.

“And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too-” Ella giggled at the remark. Angelina was pretty and she knew Lee didn’t feel that way towards her, but he couldn’t resist making the crowd laugh.

“JORDAN!”

“Sorry, Professor.” Lee apologized to Professor McGonagall who seemed to not care for Lee’s antics as much as the school. She watched him very closely but Ella could tell she liked the humor better than dull commentary any day.

“And she’s really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood’s, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he’s going to sc – no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle – that’s Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by the Slytherins – that’s Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goal posts, but he’s blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can’t tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes – she’s really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goal posts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDOR SCORE!”

Ella screamed and cheered along with the other Gryffindors while the Slytherins groaned. The game was already going in their favor. Ella watched her friends swoop and soar around the stadium and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. She wished she could play, but she had to admit they made an amazing team as they were. Fred and George were amazing Beaters and she had to admit even she had trouble telling who was who in the air. Ella always prided herself on being the only one who knew whether it was Fred or George, but when they were in the air she was as clueless as everyone else.

“Slytherin in possession – Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds towards the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?”

The crowd all turned to try and see a flash of gold that had sped by Lee’s line of sight. Ella caught sight of it passing by Harry’s left ear. Maybe she would’ve made a good Seeker after all. A Seeker and Seer all at once – Fred and George would’ve teased her mercilessly. For a moment she assumed he was going to catch it and end it right there so she wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Luck never seemed to be with her though as she watched Harry and the Slytherin Seeker speed down towards the ground after the Snitch. Lee and Ella stood up to watch the dive, it seemed as though everyone had stopped to see it. All but Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint that is.

“Foul!” Screeched Ella and the Gryffindors as Harry was blocked by Flint. He held onto the broom as it spun around. Madam Hooch ordered a free goal for Gryffindors, but even that wouldn’t satisfy the fuming Gryffindor crowd with their angry bellowing.

Lee was trying to stay neutral, but failing miserably.

“So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating –”

“Jordan,” McGonagall growled at him. She seemed angry, but Ella thought Lee was spot on. The Slytherins practically disgraced the sport by using such vile ways to win.

He tried to describe it again, “I mean, after that open and revolting foul –”

“ _Jordan, I’m warning you_ –”

“Alright, alright. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I’m sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession.”

All the cheering stopped coming from Ella as she felt a tug in her heart. Her eyes immediately sought out Harry and she saw his broom lunge forward nearly bucking him off. She shook her head in disbelief and watched in horror as the Nimbus 2000 lurched forward again. Ella seemed to be the only one who noticed Harry’s broom flying around without Harry commanding it because Lee was still commentating the game.

“Slytherin in possession – Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor – Slytherin score – oh no…”

The Slytherins cheered but Ella couldn’t watch that. She was preoccupied with the charmed broomstick. A quick glance to the teacher’s section told her that two of the teachers, Snape and Quirrell, were watching Harry intently. Snape murmured under his breath and she elbowed Lee hard in the side.

“Ouch! What was that for?” He hissed at her surprised by her violent action. All she did was point at Harry and by that time the crowd began to do the same. No one knew why his broom was doing that or how to stop it. The broom began to spin and Harry miraculously held on, but after a wild jerk he was left with only one hand still on it. Everyone watched in terror as the broom continued to shake the first year off of it. The Weasley twins flew up to try and take Harry off of it and put him safely on theirs but the closer they got the higher the broom went. Finally George motioned to Fred and they dropped down to wait for Harry to fall so they could catch him there. Ella was ready to be sick, but not from any curse.

Suddenly Harry was able to get back on the broom. Ella had no idea what had happened, but there he was climbing back on and being perfectly fine. Soon though he zoomed towards the ground and clapped his hand to his mouth like he was going to be sick. Ella groaned thinking that whatever jinxed it was still working to kill him.

The first year landed on the ground on all fours and spit something gold into his hands. Ella couldn’t help but cheer as she realized it was the Snitch. The entire arena was erupting with cheers from the Gryffindors. Ella jumped up with Lee and gave him a huge hug as the jumped up in down screaming ‘we won!’ 

“I’ve got the Snitch!” He yelled to everyone who looked at the kid like the hero they’d been waiting for. It was like the broom fiasco was completely forgotten; all anyone could think of was winning a match.

“Gryffindor wins by one hundred and seventy points to sixty!” Lee shouted in the enchanted microphone barely being heard over the crowd’s excitement. To Ella it was as though she was just a normal student in the school who had simply watched the game and had no idea what had happened. She would remember the joyous feeling for the rest of her life. 


	11. The Mirror of Erised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

Not long after the Quidditch match, the temperature truly plummeted around the grounds of Hogwarts. One morning in mid-December, Ella awoke to find everything covered in a thick blanket of snow. Students were trudging through the enormous snow banks just to get to each class. Fred and George got into quite a bit of trouble for bewitching snowballs to hit Quirrell’s turban which the entire Gryffindor House found funnier than anything. Ella decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays since she had yet to see the castle during Christmas. To her surprise, the twins would also be spending the holiday at the school due to their parents visiting Charlie in Romania.

The three friends sat in the common room watching the other students rush about trying to find all the things they’ll need for going home. Since none of them would be leaving they hadn’t felt the need to join in the fray, they merely watched and waited for dinner to be ready. Ella sat with her head propped up on her left arm observing her classmates. Every so often another kid would overlook the thing they needed and she would politely point it out to them while the twins attempted to hide their snickers.

“You know, it’s a good thing I’m not leaving to go home. I’d be dragging all my books home practically breaking my back. You’d think the professors would give less homework in the spirit of Christmas, but I guess that would be wrong!” Fred exclaimed when a fifth year’s knapsack broke open letting loose hundreds of parchments.

George shrugged, “Well, it’s not all bad. At least we’re studying Animagi in Defense Against the Dark Arts, that’s a lot more fascinating than it could be.”

Fred nodded, “I suppose you’re right, it could be worse.”

Ella’s curiosity soon got the best of her, “What are Animagi?”

“Well an Animagus is a person who can change their form from human to animal at will. I find it absolutely fascinating. Can you imagine being able to turn into an animal and back whenever you please?” George said with excitement. 

It felt to Ella as if the floor had disappeared from under her. She was glad she had been sitting. Her mouth gapped at the boys who were now looking worriedly at her. They noticed how pale she became after George explained it to her.

“Is everything alright, Ella?” George asked hesitantly as though he didn’t want to set her off any further.

“F-fine,” she stammered, “I just remembered I need to look at something right away in the library.” Before either boy could get another word in Ella leapt up and dashed out of the Common room.

She didn’t slow her pace until she reached the library. Ella always had been fascinated by their library since it was such a large space filled with more magic than Ella had once believed existed. Even though she was in the area quite often, there were still places that were a mystery to her. As much as the books intrigued her there was no way she could ever read all of them. That didn’t stop her from looking through any that peaked her interest. She found it odd how the kids in her grade couldn’t wrap it around their minds how she knew so much, maybe if they picked up as many book as she did they’d understand. Maybe if they’d grown up accustom to books being their only source of companionship they’d realize why she always was sticking her nose in them. Maybe that’s why Hermione seemed to be her equal within her year.

Soon she was walking around the library without a clue where she was supposed to look. She began to fear she’d never find what she was looking for and started to panic. Her dreams were only getting worse and it seemed unfair to have come so close to an idea only for it to be torn away just as quickly. She had gone down her fourth row of book shelves when she ran into Madam Pince.

“What are you looking for?” She asked Ella in a kinder voice than most students get. Ella was there reading so often that the librarian didn’t mind her. The woman appeared to have a soft spot for students with a love for reading, which did make sense to Ella. Maybe Madam Pince was also a Muggleborn, or she just understood students who enjoyed books.

Ella cleared her throat and answered, “I was looking for books on Animagi, ma’am.”

Madam Pince looked her over, “Aren’t you a second year? You don’t study Animagi until your third year.”

“I know ma’am, but I have friends who are in their third year and they mentioned them. I got very curious, it was so intriguing.” Ella insisted to the woman being almost completely honest with her.

She smiled at the younger girl, “They are rather interesting, aren’t they? Well, follow me; I’ll lead you right to them.” The two weaved through the columns of papers and books until they came to a whole row dedicated to Animagi.

Ella’s eyes grew as wide as saucers, “Thank you ma’am.”

The librarian turned to leave and said, “What are you looking for, boy?” Ella turned around to see Harry looking as though he was caught red handed in a crime. Odd.

“Nothing,” said Harry which was obviously the wrong thing to say. Madam Pince immediately had him leave her library. Ella briefly wondered why Harry wouldn’t tell Madam Pince what he was looking for, since it was very obvious he was looking for something. She shook her head and began milling about the books she thought she may need for her studying. By the time she had grabbed all the books she thought she’d need there was a very large stack and she had no idea how to get all them to the table even if it was only a couple feet away, it would still take several trips back and forth.

She looked around for a moment, “ _Wingardium Leviosa_.” The pile began to float like it was just a feather and she proceeded to take them to the table.

 _Animagi for Beginners_ , it seemed like the place to start. After skimming through the book she found that the person’s animal form would reflect their personality. She vaguely wondered what animal reflected her personality. It seemed like such a foreign thought that she had absolutely no idea what that creature would be. She also realized that not just any person could be an Animagus; you had to be profoundly talented in Transfiguration. Ella loved the class, but she wasn’t sure if that would be good enough to provide her with the means to become one of these magical beings. Another hit came to her when she realized that you needed to be registered to become an Animagus because it was that dangerous and that difficult. She let out a frustrated breath of air. Were her dreams really pointing to being an Animagus or had she just jumped to conclusions too soon? She had been so sure.

Looking around she realized it must have been late and she would certainly be in big trouble if she was caught out of the dorm at this hour. She decided to take a how to guide on becoming an Animagus just in case she was right, but she wasn’t exactly keen on it.

Rushing from the room she was shocked at how dark everything was outside and came to the realization that she had definitely been in the library longer than she had anticipated. Dashing as swiftly as she could while being quiet she tried to get to the Common Room before she ran into a teacher or worse Peeves. Speak of the devil, she heard the little bugger cackling down the hall and ran to hide in a nearby empty classroom.

The door lightly clicked shut as Ella slid down it letting a slow sigh of relief slip from between her lips. She was only going to wait until Peeves flew out of the hallway but a glint of light on the other side of the room distracted her. She stood up and walked over to a large mirror that seemed extremely out of place in the classroom. Ella highly doubted that any student was supposed to find it, yet here she was staring at the ceiling high, ornate mirror. It was absolutely breathtaking down to the last detail in its gold boarder. An inscription read: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. For a moment Ella tried to figure out what language the phrase was in, but quickly she gave up on the hopeless case.

Gazing at her reflection she was bewildered why this mirror was kept hidden. It obviously belonged in the room of a princess, not an empty room of an empty school corridor. She set her book down on the floor and glanced at her reflection’s expression in shock. A smile was on its face and moving a tentative hand to her own; Ella discovered the smile was not mirrored.

“Why do you smile?” Ella whispered to the girl in the mirror. The girl was mute and simply brought her forefinger up to tap lightly on her head.

“You don’t dream like I do, do you?” She asked the other version of herself. It shook her head to show that Ella was correct.

Placing a hand upon the mirror the girl followed in suit, “Why can’t I be like you? Why must I see all the horrible things that haven’t happened yet while you can sleep peacefully with dreams that mean nothing? All of my friends can go to bed without worrying what will happen once their eyes shut, I can’t. I don’t want to admit it and I never want to tell my friends, but it scares me. I watch these things in my head and then they come true. Some call it a gift, but I can only see it as a curse. At first it was brilliant. I knew who my friends would be and who would make the Quidditch team, but now that I only see threats and troubles. I don’t want the power anymore! I can see all these dangers and I can’t breathe a word of it. There is no one like me in the entire world, but I’m almost expected to just get out of bed and act as if I don’t know what terrible things are going to come about. Why am I like this? What did I ever do to deserve this curse? Why can’t I be normal?”

Ella cried out the last part a little louder than she had intended and stood completely still, waiting with baited breath to see if the shout had attracted any teachers to her. No one came and she turned back to the smiling self, the person she wanted to be. That version of her would never have to feel the burden she doesn’t go a day without. For what seemed like an eternity the girls stared at each other. Ella could’ve stayed and pondered the possibilities that came with her not having her dreams for the rest of her life. The idea of doing so jostled her to consciousness. She suddenly became wary of the mirror and quickly stepped away from it. The girl in it stared at her and beckoned her to look further once more, but Ella had had enough of the mirror’s hypnosis. 

Swiftly, she made her exit from the room ignoring the mirror’s silent calls to her. Luckily she made it back to the Common Room without being intercepted by Filch or Mrs. Norris. It was obviously past midnight at that point and Ella was thankful that break had started and she had no classes to wake up early for the next day. Ella felt exhausted all the way through her bones. The mirror seemed to have sapped her energy and spirit. She quickly went through the portrait hole and was nearly to the stairs when two throats were cleared simultaneously.

“Where have you been?” A twin asked her. She hadn’t turned around to see who was talking to her, but knew it was one of them.

“The library,” she replied slowly turning to face the boys. Their arms were crossed and they both looked extremely tired, like they’d waited up for her all this time.

George shook his head, “Maybe at first, but the library closed ages ago. Where did you go after?”

She gave the boys a look of disbelief and crossed her own arms, “What does it matter to you? I was out and…thinking.” It wasn’t a lie she really had been thinking, but it wasn’t on her own accord.

“What were you thinking about, you were gone for an awfully long time,” maybe it was the genuine worry in Fred’s voice or her thoughts about how her life could be popping back into her mind, but tears sprung to her eyes.

Bringing a hand to her face she tried to inconspicuously flick the water from her eyes, “I was just thinking about stuff, nothing important.” Ella tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. If she could just make it to the stairs a few steps behind her she would be in the clear, but the boys were too observant for her plan to ever work.

Fred took a step closer to her, “What’s wrong, Ella?”

Taking a step back she lied, “N-nothing.”

George shook his head, “You can tell us, we’re your friends. You don’t have to hide anything; we only want to help you.”

Ella had ended up backing into a wall and decided just to slide down it. Her knees were shaking too hard to support her anyways. The twins both kneeled down to her level so that they wouldn’t tower over her or make her uncomfortable.

“I don’t want to be this way,” she whispered so they just barely heard her. She hated telling them, she hated to seem weak. Ella always was trying to be tough; she truly hated showing weakness especially now that she had friends and confidence. She had stood up to Allison and she had made it so far in the past year in figuring out who she was that she didn’t want these kind of setbacks. It seemed that no matter how strong she was, she still needed moments of weakness. It made her human.

Neither twin knew what to say to her or if anything they said would help. So they did what they thought would help her. They sat down on either side of her and let her just let out all that she had held in. Sometimes words weren’t needed to help a situation only the solid feeling of someone being there for the one who needed it. The proof they weren’t alone to make all the difference. Soon all their eye lids were drooping and they parted ways. Not one of the three would tell another soul of what had happened; it was one of those things that never needed to be brought up again. As she climbed into her bed in her dormitory she thought about the Animagus book and whether she had been right. For once she decided to just dream on it instead of ponder it in consciousness.

_It began again and Ella welcomed it this time. Now that she had an idea in her head she hoped to prove or disprove her theory. The images flashed in slow motion this time but they almost seemed as if they were now unimportant. A scene played before her and she stood in amazement as she beheld herself mastering the art of becoming an Animagus. Practically bouncing up and down she watched the steps of becoming an Animagus and crossed her fingers to see what kind of creature she would become. It was merely one small step away. One spell would complete the transfiguration._

Her eyes opened in the sun shining through her window. Groaning she sat up and noticed that all the girls were already gone. Of course, they’d be on the train heading home for the holidays today which meant that the school was virtually empty now except she was there and so were the twins.

While the Animagus book was left untouched until night time, Ella, Fred, and George spent their days planning pranks and joking around with each other. They spent most of the time laughing until they were blue in the face. She had missed spending time with them and not worrying about school or dreams. Ever since she found out what her dreams had been about, her nights were calmer. Sure, there was this giant chess board that seemed to lurk in the dream every so often, but with all the fun she was having she had little time to worry about what she dreamt.

Ella woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and began to go down into the Common Room. She wondered what it would look like since the castle seemed to have a magical ability to surprise her every time she thought of something.

“You too,” she heard Harry say. “Will you look at this? I’ve got presents!” Ella stopped just before she got to the bottom of the stairs.

“What did you expect, turnips?” Ron replied. Ella heard tearing which, most likely, was Ron already opening his. Ella could understand that Harry believed he wasn’t going to get anything. If the people he lived with acted anything like she had seen in her dreams, she doubted they gave Harry a lot of presents.

She listened a bit more of their conversation while they opened their presents. She was pleased to hear that Mrs. Weasley had made him one of her sweaters. Ella loved the one she had gotten last year and still had it. She had almost gone down the stairs and ended her eavesdropping session when Ron gasped and stopped her in her tracks.

“I’ve heard of those. If that’s what I think it is – they’re very rare, and _really_ valuable.” Ron said in complete awe. Ella poked her head from around the corner and was transfixed by the cloak in Harry’s hands. It was beautiful with its slivery fabric and gleaming folds.

“What is it?” Harry asked at the same time Ella thought it.

“It’s an invisibility cloak,” Ron stated. “I’m sure it is – try it on.” Harry did as he said and Ella feel backwards in shock clapping her hand over her mouth before her shout of surprise could escape. Ron let out a shout.

“It _is_! Look down!” The first years continued to gape at the magical object and soon read a note that had apparently came with it. Ella tried listening for any other hints about who had sent the cloak to Harry, but Fred and George made their entrance and the two hid the cloak out of sight.

“Happy Christmas!”

“Hey, look – Harry’s got a Weasley sweater, too!”

Sighing, Ella finally came into the Common Room and made her way over to a little pile of gifts that were hers. It was roughly the same size as Harry’s. Fred and George had matching blue sweaters that could only be told apart by the F and G on each of them. Opening hers Ella noticed it was a pretty lavender shade this year and smiled as she slipped hers over her head. There was some fudge with hers that she nibbled on as she took a look at her other presents.

“Harry’s sweater is better than ours, though,” said Fred. “She obviously makes more of an effort if you’re not family.” Ella felt a blush creep to her cheeks as the twins looked at her sweater too. She didn’t want Mrs. Weasley to put extra work in her sweater, she just felt lucky to get one.

“Why aren’t you wearing yours, Ron?” George demanded. “Come on, get it on, they’re lovely and warm.” Ella smiled at the boys while Ron put his sweat on grumbling all the while about not liking maroon.

George looked over his brother in his sweater, “You haven’t got a letter on yours. I suppose she thinks you don’t forget your name. But we’re not stupid – we know we’re called Gred and Forge.” She laughed at the joke. Only Fred and George would think of something like that.

“What’s all this noise?”

Percy came walking down the stairs with his very own sweater thrown over his arm. Ella had noticed a slight change in Percy over the year. He seemed more zealous and thirsty to make the world see him, all the while moving apart from his family. She didn’t like the change, no matter how small. In their own way it seemed the twins had seen the shift in behavior as well, but like everything else, they resorted to teasing to try and fix it.

Fred seized the sweater and held it up to admire, “P for Prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we’re all wearing ours, even Harry got one.”

Ella looked away as the twins fought Percy to wear the sweater. She instead took inventory of what she had gotten this Christmas. Nothing from her parents which didn’t surprise her; they practically disowned her anyways. Katie had given her several chocolate frogs and Angelina gave her a book of spells. Ella knew she would enjoy reading it later. Alicia’s present was some Fizzing Whizzbees which Ella had heard would actually make her float off the ground; that sounded like something she _had_ to try. Lee had given her a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as well as prank supplies from Zonko’s. Finally, she had Mrs. Weasley’s fudge, sweater, and a little note that said she hoped Ella was having a good year and that her boys were treating her well. She had already agreed with the twins they would exchange their gifts during Christmas dinner.

At the Christmas dinner she sat next to the Weasleys and Harry. It was one of those moments that made life worthwhile to Ella. The feeling of belonging and not intruding in someone else’s life was what she felt the whole night. Her mind had nagged her when she first decided to stay behind because it thought things would be boring. As always that negative part was extremely wrong. Whoever cooked the dinner had really outdone themselves. Ella didn’t think it was remotely possible to make a dinner better than the Halloween one and yet here she was eating the best meal of her life. The wizard crackers were the best. Like Harry, she had never seen anything more than the Muggle ones which were quite dull even when she hadn’t known about magic. These took two people to let off and each one let out a sound much like a canon shot. Fred and Harry pulled one that made a cloud of blue smoke surround them as well as gave them a rear admiral’s hat and nearly a dozen live mice. George and Ella’s enveloped the group in several shimmering stars. They received a very droopy sun hat that no one could wear since it had recently become the place that held many mice.

Dumbledore was currently in a flowered bonnet laughing at a joke Professor Flitwick read him. When he saw Ella looking up there he smiled briefly at her then continued his conversation. The deserts were as wonderful as the rest of the meal, but everyone became cautious of the foods once Percy nearly broke his tooth on a silver sickle.

“Alright boys, are you ready for your present?” Ella asked finally pulling out a box that she had wrapped their gifts in. She was extremely nervous since she was from a Muggle family she couldn’t really get anything magical and barely knew what to get two boys anyways.

Smiling the twins opened up the gift revealing some Muggle candies and a whoopee cushion. They seemed confused about all of it and Ella couldn’t honestly blame them. Muggle objects were as foreign to them as magical ones were to her.

“Um, what are these?” Fred asked her holding up the Muggle prank tool.

She blushed beginning to believe it was a stupid idea to give them such a trivial item, “Well the wrapped things are Muggle chocolates and that is something that Muggles use for jokes. You see all you do is blow it up and leave it on a chair then when a person sits down it will-er, make a rather rude noise.” Fred and George looked at each other with mischievous glints in their eyes. Then they proceeded to test out Ella’s gift. Both found it extremely amusing.

George roared with laughter as Fred sat down, “This is genius! No magic and the Muggles made something like this. I really do admire their effort.”

“Agreed,” Fred responded then pulled out their gift to her, “Well, um, here you are.”

Ella unwrapped the gift and found a small box. She half wondered if this would be more candy and joke supplies. To her surprise, it was far from any sort of prank material. In the little box was a bottle of perfume. She gave the boys a questioning look and George began shifting around uncomfortably while Fred’s ears turned about as red as his hair.

“Perfume?” She asked them wondering slightly if this was a joke. They definitely did not seem like the type to give a friend perfume. Then she wondered if she smelled bad to them…

Fred’s cheeks flushed and Fred said, “I knew we shouldn’t have asked Bill.”

Spraying a tad into the air Ella sniffed, it was a pretty scent, “I like it. Very light and floral; reminds me of spring.” The boys were still blushing but seemed relieved that she liked the gift. After that the Weasleys, Ella, and Harry made their way outside to have a vicious snowball fight. There was no clear winner but they all came in later for a small meal and to warm up by a fire.

Ella and Percy played a game of Wizards chess as did Ron and Harry. Then Ella sat with Harry and Ron to watch Percy chase the twins around the room in an attempt to get his Prefect badge back. All in all it was another perfect Christmas to add to her list. Being completely full she went to bed happily with only a small dream about Animagi. It wasn’t until two nights after that Ella got a nightmare.

_The giant chess board surrounded her, but she wasn’t alone. Of course she wasn’t alone; there always was someone there to make her worry for their well-being. It was Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They appeared to be in the middle of a deadly game. She had obviously arrived in the middle of it and she watched in confusion as the Queen made her way towards Ron who was currently a knight. When the Queen raised her sword Ella knew this wasn’t just kind of like Wizard’s chess. It **was** Wizard’s chess, and Ron was about to be taken down by a very fierce Queen. All Ella could do was scream in fear for him knowing she couldn’t stop it._

_The scene morphed itself into a new image one where the three first years were being suffocated by a plant. Ella wanted to identify it but she felt like she was trapped right along with them. Panic rose within her. What if she died in her dream and then died in real life? Why was she feeling the effects of the dream when she never had before? Hermione said something to the boys, but Ella’s ears were deaf to it as the dream once again changed._

_Now she was walking through the corridors of the school. Everything around her moved extremely fast, but she was still in a regular speed. Her classmates seemed to blur around her and the world was put on mute. She walked against the crowd which parted for her. Even though there were literally hundreds of people around her, she felt alone like she was the only person on the planet. It terrified her to be so painfully in her own world. Then the sound came, she almost thought she was imagining it, but then the noise became louder. It was hissing, like steam from a tea pot or a snake. Chills ran through her veins and she wanted to be in any other type of dream. That’s when the dream became dark, too dark to see. Her own hand was lost in the darkness. Then a wave of pure emotion crashed into her._

_Loneliness, anger, sadness, and bone chilling terror were all she could feel. She was consumed with hopelessness and just wanted it all to stop. She needed something to hold onto she needed to stop feeling like this. Then the Animagus visions began to flash with urgency. Sure, she hadn’t looked at the library book in a little while, but it was the holidays she didn’t want to have to worry about it then. For the first time in many nights she felt like her dreams were overwhelming her._

Ella awoke doused in a cold sweat and felt completely sick to her stomach. She was beyond thankful that all her roommates had gone home for Christmas. Suddenly, she had the overwhelming desire to find the other Ella, the one from the mirror. She wanted to make that reality her reality. She was determined to find a way to do it. Leaping from her bed she left the Common Room, in her frenzied state she didn’t even think about getting caught. All that registered in her mind was the mirror.

Luck was truly with her because she was able to easily find the classroom without anyone seeing her. She was about to go in when she heard someone was already in there. Pressing her ear to the door she discovered more than one person had found the hidden mirror.

“So you like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised,” Ella recognized Dumbledore’s voice and wondered who he was speaking to.

“I didn’t know it was called that, sir.” The new voice was Harry’s, Ella was certain. She pondered for a moment what his alternate reality was, a scar-less forehead or maybe his family?

“But I expect you’ve realized by now what is does?”

“It – well – it shows me my family –” Harry stuttered confirming Ella’s theory.

“And it showed your friend Ron himself as head boy.” So Ron had seen it too? Ella wondered how many other students had stumbled upon the room or if the Gryffindor students were the only ones to wander about the castle at this hour. Realizing she missed some of the conversation while she was thinking, she began to listen again.

“Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?” Dumbledore asked, but when Harry remained silent he elaborated, “Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly how he is. Does that help?”

Ella let the words roll around in her head a bit. If the happiest man looked into it and saw nothing but himself what would that mean? The man could be content with his life and have no need for a better world or was there something more? 

Harry replied, “It shows us what we want…whatever we want…” Ella could tell he was unsure of his answer and Ella was unsure of hers as well. Dumbledore knew the answer and she wanted desperately to know what it was.

“Yes and no,” the professor said in a soft voice. Ella strained her ears to hear him say, “It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them.”

 _“And I who have been plagued with knowledge of the future see myself unburdened and free, my heart’s deepest, most desperate desire.”_ Ella thought to herself.

Dumbledore continued, “However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.” Ella shuddered, she had considered doing that. She would have most likely been driven mad if those two hadn’t been there.

“The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever _do_ run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now why don’t you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?” Ella found his comment of dreams odd. She felt as though the wise old man knew she was there.

“Sir – Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?”

“Obviously, you’ve just done so. You may ask me one more thing, however.” Ella waited to hear what the boy’s question was.

“What do you see when you look into the mirror?” He asked and Ella too was curious.

“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick wool socks,” Dumbledore told him. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People insist on giving me books.” Ella didn’t believe a word of it. She pressed herself against the wall and was thankful when Harry had passed.

“Ah, Miss. Worthington, I see you’re out for a midnight stroll. I dare say, you wouldn’t mind if I accompanied you?” Dumbledore asked spotting her before she could make a quick getaway. Nodding they began to walk and Ella felt herself relax a bit, it didn’t seem like she was going to get in trouble.

After the two had gone a little ways Ella piped up, “Socks, sir? Surely you can’t be serious. I mean someone who’s lived as long as yourself must see something different.”

“I should’ve known you had found the mirror,” Dumbledore said more to himself than to her. Giving Dumbledore a look he questioned her kindly, “Well if you’re so apt to share, what did you see, Ella?”

She bit her tongue and looked down a bit, “I saw myself, well not quite myself, but it was me. I just –”

Dumbledore knew what it was, “You didn’t have any dreams.”

Ella nodded, “I found it on the first day of the holidays. That night I had been entranced by it, I wanted to be a part of that world. I had a nightmare tonight and I planned on watching the mirror until I discovered a way to make it so. If you hadn’t been there or Harry, I would’ve ended up like the men you spoke of.”

“To rid one’s self of a burden is a popular desire. At so young of an age you carry such a great burden that most men my age couldn’t handle. I see that you and Harry are alike in many ways. Both of you do not favor who you live with, you’re very bright children, you find a home within Hogwarts, and the both of you were given too many hardships for someone of your ages. I see myself and my family together in the mirror as Harry does, but he does not need to know that. Sometimes the mind does better when it has to think, I believe Harry needs to learn to think of the smaller things in life like socks. He doesn’t need to think about other families being like his. You children need time to be children; you’re already too grown up.” Dumbledore told her wisely and she believed him. She and Harry dealt with more troubles than most first and seconds would deal with in their life time.

Looking up she realized they had walked straight to the portrait hole to the Gryffindor Common room. Ella hadn’t realized how tired she was until then. Even with the thought of nightmares she still would rough it for some shut eye.

“I believe this is where I bid you farewell, Ella. You would do well to follow my advice to Harry about both not searching for the mirror and not dwelling on dreams. A life spent in fear and hiding isn’t a life at all, but a sad existence for the faint of heart, something you are not.”


	12. Nicolas Flamel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

Once the term had begun again Ella found herself busy at almost all times with homework or the other study she had taken up. Ella had figured out that the best way to stop her dreams from being so terrible was to appease them for the time being. Whenever she studied the How To Become an Animagus book her dreams calmed down and just showed her a visual of what the steps looked like. It was an odd spectacle to watch since it was herself being the model. These visuals also left her a bit on edge, it was like her dreams were telling her to break the law and become an illegal Animagus. She decided she’d worry about that later. For now she studied the book thoroughly especially since the first step was to mentally prepare yourself to be dedicated to the task.

Ella missed the holidays and being with the twins nearly every hour of the day. Ever since school had started again they’d been too bogged down with Quidditch and homework that neither of them had any time for much else. Wood was working them to death in the rain that had been falling ever since the snow let up. It was like everyone had something to focus on.

After reading Mrs. Weasley’s note for the hundredth time Ella decided to write her back. Rowena often visited her with the other owls during breakfast time. There were never any letters, but Ella loved it when her owl came to have a bit of her breakfast. It let her know that there was someone there for her.

_Dear Mrs. Weasley,_

_So far the year has been going great. Fred and George are doing an excellent job as Beaters and I’ve been trying to keep them in line as best as I can. Thank you so much for the sweater, it always means so much to get something from you. Truly, it means the world to me. I hope you don’t mind me writing you._

_Deepest regards,_

_Ella_

She reread her note in the Owlery before attaching it to Rowena who was more than eager to have an assignment. The owl stood proudly with her foot out ready to do her job. Ella couldn’t help but laugh at her behavior.

“Well, now Rowena, I know you got to do some work for the Ministry this summer, but this isn’t that important of a task. I’m merely sending a friendly letter, not ending a war.” Ella told her pet. Her intelligent amber eyes appeared to say that it was important to her. She stroked her owl’s head affectionately then with that she took off out the window to deliver the letter.

At the Quidditch practice that night Ella braved the cold drizzle as much as the rest of the team, only she spent it in the stands instead of on brooms. She knew she should have been doing homework, but the team needed the moral support. It seemed to her as if the team’s mindset was not on the game, but anywhere else. Oliver couldn’t keep them all focused enough to get work done. Fred and George were dive bombing each other and it appeared Wood had had enough of their antics for one day.

“Will you stop messing around! That’s exactly the sort of thing that’ll lose us the match! Snape’s refereeing this time, and he’ll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!” Wood yelled at all the team. George really did fall off his broom then. Ella stood up in the stands to get a better look if he was alright. Angelina flew a bit closer to the ground doing the same.

Being apparently fine, George spluttered through mouthfuls of mud, “ _Snape’s_ refereeing? When’s he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He’s not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin.” The rest of the team landed next to George and began to complain about Snape.

Oliver seemed to have enough of it.

“It’s not _my_ fault. We’ve just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn’t got an excuse to pick on us.” Oliver reasoned with the grumbling Gryffindors. Ella knew they had a right to be this way, if there were any teachers in the school with a bias, it was Snape. Not to mention the fact Harry seemed to be a particular target for the professor’s anger. Ella didn’t understand how the teacher who first took her into the Wizarding World could be so cruel.

She stayed up quite late that night researching Animagi in the Common Room. Fred and George had been in too sour of a mood to want to stay up later than they already had. No one paid any attention to the second year sitting in the corner and Ella was thankful for it. Had one of her friends been awake she would’ve had to lie about why she was taking such an interest to Animagi. Some people might argue that she had no justifiable reason to lie, but she believed she had to. There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that was telling her what to do. In her research she had found that there was such a thing as an illegal Animagus, someone who becomes one on their own without registering or getting help. She hated the thought of breaking the law, but her dreams were so persistent and urgent that she felt it wouldn’t be all that bad. Who knew, it might come in handy to be able to change into an animal. That is, if she were to be on the run in a forest type setting and needed to change into some form of animal, it didn’t seem likely, but better safe than sorry. Since it was illegal she wasn’t going to rope her friends into knowing her secret.

With drooping eyes she retired to her bed for some much needed sleep. The next few days blurred past with a mix of terrifying and insightful dreams. Her days went by with school, spending time with friends, homework, observing Quidditch practices, studying her Animagus book, and dreaming. There wasn’t much time left for so much as breathing, but Ella didn’t wish it away. She would gladly take that over summer time.

A few days later Rowena showed up with the rest of the owls for breakfast. Mrs. Weasley’s reply had finally made it back to Hogwarts and Ella was delighted to see her owl again. She gave her friend a pat on the head and unfolded the letter.

_Dear Ella,_

_So wonderful to hear from you again, it’s been far too long. I’m glad you liked the sweater, dear; it really was no trouble at all. I understand that the boys can be a bit of a handful at times, but thank you for at least trying to keep them from doing anything too terrible. Feel free to write anytime, Ella; it’s always nice to hear from you. I hope that your parents will let us come and get you this year so you can stay at the Burrow for a portion of the summer. Hope your studies are going well._

_With love,_

_Molly Weasley_

Ella felt a smile grow across her face as she read Mrs. Weasley’s letter. She never really got mail, but Mrs. Weasley’s were always so nice that Ella felt lucky to have it. She looked at Mrs. Weasley as more of a mother than her real mother. Even though the summer was a long way off, Ella hoped desperately that she’d be allowed to go to their house over the summer. Her parents should let her since that’d mean they wouldn’t have to deal with her.

Finally the moment that had the Gryffindors on edge all week came, the Quidditch match with Snape as the referee. Ella was nervous for the team and even though most of them hid their anxiety well, Lee and Ella both could tell that they were all nervous. Soon enough everyone was making their way to the field. It was slightly aggravating to Ella since she couldn’t see the outcome of the match. On a nightly basis she saw things that were just terrible yet she couldn’t see who won a Quidditch game. It was very annoying.

“Gryffindor better get the snitch as quick as possible,” Ella said to Lee as they sat down in the commentator’s area.

“I know; Snape’s going to be brutal to us,” Lee exclaimed extremely nervous for how the match will be conducted.

Ella watched Dumbledore take a seat in the stands and felt grateful that he’d be there to prevent anything happening to Harry. It relaxed her a bit, but she was still tense with the game being so near. She could see Professor Quirrell in the stands and she tried not to stare too intently at the man. There wasn’t a bit of doubt in her mind that his stuttering and frightened ways were all a façade. She was certain that he had some evil intent in his mind, but she couldn’t tell what he was going to do. Ella wanted to tell Dumbledore more than anything, but how could she possibly accuse a teacher of being evil with nothing to back it up?

Both teams walked on the field below and Ella looked at Snape; he seemed to be in a foul mood. She had absolutely no idea what could have caused it. Soon enough they were in the air and Lee was shouting a fierce commentary. All Ella could do was pray that nothing went wrong at this match, although no one really could do anything with Dumbledore so close.

Snape was throwing penalties left and right. The latest one was to George for hitting a Bludger at him. She laughed though at how he at least tried to. Before Ella knew it Harry was in a dive.

“Oh no, what’s he doing?” She yelled at Lee pointing to Harry. For a moment she feared he’d lost control of his broom again. Then she saw a flash of gold in the direction he was headed in.

Lee was commentating, “Looks like Potter’s caught sight of something – he’s speeding towards whatever it is anyways. Watch out for Snape Harry! Oh, so close – wait that’s it! He’s got the Snitch!” The stands erupted in loud cheers and Ella and Lee hugged each other in victory.

“We won! We won! We won!” Ella cheered happily as the rest of the team began to land off their broomsticks and congratulate each other. Ella was eager to congratulate each of her friends along with the rest of the house.

She ran onto the field with Lee and made it to the team just as George and Angelina were pulling out of a hug. Lee gave Fred and George a pat on the back while Ella hugged Katie, Angelina, and Alicia.

“You were all great; it was an amazing match!” She praised them.

Angelina laughed, “It really wasn’t us though. It was all Harry!”

The twins walked up to her next while Lee congratulated the girls in a hug behind them.

“Great job both of you,” she said to them smiling; they returned her smile.

George leaned in and hugged her, “Thanks, Ella.” Fred hugged her next and she felt her stomach give a small flip, which was odd. It was only Fred.

“C’mon, there’s going to be a party to celebrate our win tonight and parties are nothing without great food to eat,” Fred said to both Ella and George.

“Where will we get the food?” She asked them walking alongside the boys.

“The kitchens, of course,” George said merrily.

Fred continued for his brother, “We’ll just have to change quickly and then the three of us will go.” Ella waited outside the locker room for the boys to get changed. She watched warily as Quirrell walked into the Forbidden Forest trying not to look suspicious and it was actually working. He didn’t even notice her as he stealthily disappeared into the forest. It only confirmed her thoughts about his attitude being false.

After the boys came out of the locker room, Ella followed them through the castle to go to the kitchens for the first time. Of all the places they had taken her, the kitchen had never been one and she was quite excited to see a part of the castle that was new to her. She followed her friends directly below the Great Hall and to a giant portrait of a bowl of fruit.

“What now?” She asked them and they just gave her equally devious grins.

“Tickle the pear, of course-”

“Really, isn’t that the first thing that comes to mind when you see a giant painting of fruit?” They asked her finishing each other’s sentences.

Ella laughed and sarcastically told them, “Well, it is now.” Fred went up to the pear and tickled it. Ella watched in fascination as the fruit squirmed and transformed itself into a doorknob. George and Fred opened the door and walked through leave Ella to trail behind them.

When Ella entered the large area and found herself speechless and the grandeur of the kitchens. It was a high-ceiling room much like the Great Hall, nearly exactly like the Great Hall. There were even tables that were set up in the same positions as the ones above them. That must have been how the food magically on platters above them. Along the walls of the room, there were many stove tops that were cooking food and at the end of the hall was a giant stone fireplace. 

For the first time a movement took Ella’s eyes off of the layout of the room and she focused on the little creatures walking around the room. They were scrawny little things with giant heads and eyes. Their ears looked a lot like a bat’s and they had to have been only about two or three feet tall at most. Ella was shocked at them all; she had never seen a creature quite like them.

She looked up at the twins, “What are they?”

George looked around at the things before replying, “House-elves. They’re the ones who make all the food at Hogwarts.”

Fred laughed and teased, “You didn’t think it just magically appeared did you?”

“Why, yes, that’s exactly what I thought,” she said rolling her eyes at his jest. They shouldn’t have been surprised that she didn’t know; she was Muggle-born after all.

“Oh, well that’s alright, to be honest we thought the same at first. Let’s get some cakes and we’ll head back to the Common Room to celebrate,” George told her while Fred asked the House-elves to make them some sweets. Ella was sure they’d say no, but the creatures seemed thrilled to provide the food.

The three went back to the Common Room with arms filled with sweets. They were the heroes of the House. Everyone was insanely happy about the win and there was a lot of laughing going on all around the room. Ella never really left the area her friends were in. She didn’t feel like an intruder; she was part of a group and a happy one at that. For once Ella didn’t care about anything in the future; her mind was only on the here and now, which was the best place in the world to her.


	13. Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

_Sitting in a familiar setting Ella tried to look around the room to find out where she was exactly only to find she couldn’t. Her feet were rooted to the spot she was at and the rest of her body was very frozen in place. Soon enough her eyes focused on a large black egg sitting on the table in front of her. It entranced her, she knew that if she was being forced to pay attention to it, it was important. The egg began to shutter and crack. Ella watched in fascination as a baby dragon fell out of the egg. It wasn’t the most beautiful creature in the world, but it was still quite fascinating. She wondered where this dragon was and how it pertained to her future. That’s when she noticed she was in a hut, a very familiar hut._

“Hagrid,” she gasped sitting up quickly. It was the weekend and finals were drawing nearer. Ella knew she should’ve been studying, but she couldn’t get the creature out of her head. So she went down to Hagrid’s hut. This year she hadn’t seen him as much as she did the year before, but she was a lot busier with her classes and she was sure Ron, Harry and Hermione had been visiting him instead.

Arriving at the hut Ella banged on the door, “Hagrid, I know you’re in there! Let me in now or I’ll find a different way in!” The door opened and Hagrid’s head popped out from behind it. He was trying to block the room behind him from view; it was working.

“What d’yeh want, Ella?” He asked kindly, but she could tell he wanted her to leave.

“I want to come in and talk to you. We haven’t seen each other as much this year and I miss our conversations. Could I come in by chance?” Ella asked him trying to sound as innocent and polite as possible.

He sighed, “Get in, quickly!” She rushed into the room and immediately felt the sweltering heat inside the cabin. She began sweating the minute she entered the room. She looked around and noticed a kettle sitting over a burning fire.

She pointed towards it, “What’s that thing in there?” Of course she knew, but she couldn’t tell him that without risk of pain

Hagrid laughed, “I dare say yeh know. Yeh always did have a knack fer knowin’ stuff.”

Shrugging she responded, “I’ve got an idea, but I’d much rather know for certain.”

“Dragon’s egg, won it off a man down at the village las’ nigh’. I always wan’ed a dragon and now I got one,” Hagrid informed her happily. Ella got a very uneasy feeling in her stomach at the sound of winning a dragon egg. How many strangers really carried things like that around with them? It also occurred to her that he lived in a wood house, a very small wood house. She didn’t know too much about dragons, but Charlie had told her a few facts last year at one point. Dragons could breathe fire and they got very, _very_ big especially depending on the kind of dragon it was.

Ella shook her head, “Hagrid, I know you want a dragon, but they’re illegal and grow very fast and very big. You can’t really think that this’ll work, can you? Besides, what kind of dragon is it anyways?”

“Not sure, I was jus’ about to go teh the library to look it up,” he told Ella sounding a bit unsure of himself, but Ella could already see he wasn’t giving up the dragon without serious persuasion. She didn’t know if she had the heart to do it.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it and try to help you if you need it,” she said leaving the hut. It was so much nicer outside that she just let herself stand in the slight breeze. Hagrid left shortly afterwards to go do research in the library. Ella didn’t even want to know how much a disaster this was going to be. She finally decided to look for Fred, George, and Lee who happened to be doing homework in the Common Room.

“Ella!” Lee exclaimed seeing her and she smiled as the other two looked up. For some odd reason she smiled even more because Fred did it. She surprised herself sometimes with how much more she was paying attention to Fred. Ella knew which twin was which and she couldn’t explain why her mind kept drifting to Fred all the time, it baffled her. She’d probably ask Angelina about it sometime soon, but for now she just reminded herself that they were friends. She, Fred, and George were only friends.

“Hello Lee. What’re you working on?” Ella asked sitting down next to him and peering over at their books.

The twins shrugged and George replied, “Potions, transfigurations, and herbology. It’s all so boring; I’d much rather be driving Filch mad or something else. Anything other than this.”

She laughed, “I can understand that, with tests coming up they seem to be doing all they can to shove as much knowledge as possible into our heads. One of these days my brain’s just going to pop off!” She gesticulated her head exploding and the boys laughed at the accurate description.

Fred gave her a bit of a nudge in the ribs and taunted, “That’s not all of the knowledge Ella; you’ve just got a big head.”

Making a face at him she said, “Ha, ha, ha you think you’re so funny. At least I can learn, you’ve got the mental capacity of a rat.” The other boys roared in laughter as Fred’s ears turned a bit red. Ella was afraid she’d made too personal of a joke but finally he just laughed and gave her another nudge. Soon the three of them were laughing and joking with each other while the homework lay on the table forgotten.

“Laughing at how pathetic you lot are?” A daunting voice said. They all stopped and turned to see McLaggen standing near them with a smirk on his face. Ella never could figure out how he got into Gryffindor. He was more of a snake than a lion.

Her eyes narrowed, “What did you just say?” She made sure her voice was dangerously low. She had gotten rather good at sounding threatening lately and it did come in handy with the Slytherins and others who were too pompous for their own good. Cormac McLaggen was in Ella’s class and one of the most pompous people she had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Obviously he was oblivious to her warning. 

“Oh, not you Ella, you’re fine. It’s the rest of your…friends I was talking about,” he gave her a look that bordered on flirtatious, but only succeeded in making Ella feel sick to her stomach.

She only glared more, “If you insult my friends, you insult me. Besides, who said you could join this conversation?”

He shrugged, “I said I could and I did. I don’t see a problem with that. After all it is an open Common Room; I can do as I please.” The boys made no attempt to intervene with their fight. Ella assumed they knew she could handle herself against McLaggen.

“Well, thank you for your input, but we don’t want it. So have a nice day and good bye,” she turned around and hoped he would just walk away. Unfortunately, McLaggen seemed to lack in brains.

“C’mon Worthington, why d’you hang out with these losers? You could be with me, a much more suitable friend,” McLaggen said cockily.

Ella laughed, “You? Better company? What a riot! You wouldn’t be good company for dung much less a human being.” His ears burned red at this.

“Mark my words Worthington, you’ll open your eyes one day and come crawling to me begging to be with me instead. When you do, I might just say no too,” he told her threateningly. He sulked off and Ella was tempted to yell _fat chance_. She knew it wouldn’t do any good, but it still seemed like fun. She just managed to restrain herself.

Turning back to her friends she forced a smile on her face, “Well, that was interesting.”

Lee snorted, “Oh yes, never seen a dog walk on two legs like that. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard a dog speak like a human either.”

“Such magic, we just saw,” she gasped in fake awe. The tension finally released and they went back to homework.

In the next couple of days Ella didn’t really do much more than study and dream. She began to see less Animagus dreams and more dreams about three-headed dogs, Devil’s Snares, and giant chess boards. The more she saw the less she wanted to do in the real world. Ella wanted to just curl into a ball and not let anyone come near her again. She didn’t want to see anything else or be warned by her dreams. All she wanted was to be normal and not have to handle these types of things. Soon she began to not eat as much, she didn’t have an appetite. Soon she began to sleep less, she had to study anyways. She could feel herself getting run down, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Her friends took notice right away though and Ella was really glad Katie and Angelina knew about her curse. They were a big help when it came to having her reenter the land of the living.

One night Ella was studying for finals when Ron came into the room and rushed over to Harry and Hermione. They were only seated a few feet away and if she strained her ears, Ella could hear everything they were saying.

“It bit me!” Ron said angrily. Ella watched him show his bleeding hand to his friends. Her stomach clenched a bit at the painful looking wound. “I’m not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon’s the most horrible animal I’ve ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you’d think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby.”

Of course, Ella knew what they were talking about. The dragon seemed to no longer be an egg and Ella was frightened for the well-being of Hagrid as well as the first years. They had become the dragon watchers and she desperately hoped the dragon didn’t have venomous fangs. She remembered that she had promised Hagrid she’d help him with whatever he needed, but she really didn’t want to go near a baby dragon. Nevertheless, she made a promise to Hagrid and she figured she might as well keep it.

In the morning she snuck off to Hagrid’s hut before breakfast. The grounds were completely silent at this time of the morning since no one was up. She noticed the curtains were all drawn at the hut and at first glance someone would assume no one was even there.

She gently knocked on the door yelling, “Hagrid, please let me in. It’s Ella.” Soon enough Hagrid’s face appeared from behind the door and smiled at her.

“Ella, wha’ a nice surprise! Come in,” he ushered her inside and Ella’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. It was worse than she expected, the dragon would soon be larger than the hut. It was actually quite the sight to see. Its scales were black yet some seemed to be fading into a more brown shade which would probably be how all the scales would look when it reached adulthood.

“Its…huge,” she told Hagrid and he beamed with pride.

“I named him Norbert. Bless him; he’s so beautiful, ain’t he?” Hagrid asked her and she could see it somewhat, but she didn’t want to get any closer to Norbert than she was now.

Biting her tongue Ella tried to reason, “Hagrid, I understand that you love Norbert, but it’d be unhealthy for him to stay here. Imagine how he’ll feel once the hut gets too small. It could be rather painful for him.”

Hagrid’s face fell, “I’ve been thinkin’ bout tha’. Yer righ’ of course and he’s goin’ to Romania soon enough.”

Even though it was obvious that it saddened Hagrid to see the dragon go, Ella was relieved that it wouldn’t be a danger for much longer. For a little while she stayed with Hagrid and tried to comfort him because she hated seeing him so upset. Everyone needed someone to help get them back on their feet and Ella wanted to help him like her friends were always helping her. Finally she had to leave Hagrid’s but she vowed to remember her other friends now. There was no way she could just push the world away, it was hard but she had to keep trying to live her life.


	14. The Forbidden Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

“Look at that!”

“No it has to be a mistake!”

“I heard Harry Potter and his friends were caught out of bed last night and _they’re_ the reason!”

Ella walked through a swarm of angry Gryffindors and found her friends in a cluster. They were all fuming and Ella was confused as to why. Something big must have happened to cause so many nice people to turn into something verging on an angry mob.

She got up to her friends and asked, “What’s happened? Why is everyone so mad?” All of them turned to her looking still a bit mad, but also a little sad.

Angelina spoke first, “Apparently Harry Potter and a few of his friends were caught out of bed last night and now there’s about a hundred and fifty points lost from our House points!”

Lee added, “No one has ever lost that many points in one go. Not even Fred, George, and I. I can’t believe that we had the lead and now it gone.” Ella frowned at the thought, but something was nagging in the back of her mind. The dragon.

“What if they had a good reason for being out of bed?” She asked them looking around between each of the forlorn faces.

Fred snorted, “What could have been all that important. Anyways, if it was that important, why wouldn’t they tell the teacher?”

Opening her mouth to reply, she found she had nothing that she could actually tell them that they could believe. If she told them the truth, they’d believe it to be outrageous. She stayed quiet and they took that as a sign that she had given up on trying to justify Harry’s reason. Contrary to their belief she knew their reason and if no one else was going to be civil to those first years, she would be.

By Thursday of that week her friends put aside their moaning just to try and make Ella have a happy birthday. She was finally a teenager after all, thirteen years old. Her parents gave her nothing which was expected of them, but the rest of her friends managed some sweets from the wizarding village as well as other little things that they thought she’d like. Her favorite gift was from Fred and George who decided what to get her by themselves this time instead of asking an older brother. They bought her a charm for the bracelet they had gotten for her last birthday, the one she never took off. For their birthday she had given them some Muggle money and prank supplies with the help of Bill Weasley. She had sent him a letter and some money asking him if he could buy something for Fred and George. Bill sent the money back with supplies telling her to keep the money for herself and wish them a happy birthday for him. Neither twin could figure out how she had managed to get them such cool stuff for their birthday but were thankful nonetheless. Everything was so perfect for her birthday that she didn’t want the day to end.

The next week after the points were lost, everyone was positively cruel to Harry, Hermione, and Neville who only happened to stumble upon this mess by accident. Neville didn’t know there was a real dragon and certainly didn’t deserve to be given any silent treatment. None of them deserved any sort of silent treatment, but if the other students learned that then Hagrid would be in a lot of trouble. All three kids just kept their heads down and tried not to be noticed by anyone. 

Meanwhile, Ella dreams were coming at a frantic, all-time high. She wasn’t sure what to make of most of them, but she knew none of the things were good. Couldn’t she dream of rainbows and butterflies for once? Really, the dreams didn’t need to be made of such horrible things like what she was seeing. Ella had a sinking feeling in her stomach that a couple of the things she saw weren’t even from this year, but that only made her feel even more sick. Each night had a little bit or piece of the Animagus training, but it rarely took up more than five seconds of the dream now. Every dream was different and took Ella by surprise.

_The scene was set in a corridor of the school. There were no sounds yet Ella felt as though the walls were moving towards something. She followed the invisible movement until she came to the end of the corridor. She was very familiar with this place; it was near the Great Hall. A red substance was smeared on the walls in the form of words. Ella was nervous about getting closer, she felt that if she got any nearer to the message something would pop out of nowhere and strike her. Every hair stood on end as she walked closer to the wall and every part of her commonsense screamed for her to run away, but she was determined to see the message so she could relay it to Dumbledore._

Her dream changed.

_Now, she was listening to a soft melody while the three-headed dog slept. She snuck past it without telling her feet where to go. She didn’t know where her feet should go but they did. A trap door dropped straight into a black pit of who knows what, but Ella’s feet didn’t seem to fear anything that could possibly be in that pit. She fell into a soft pit and it didn’t seem too bad, until she realized this was a pit of Devil’s Snare from another dream. She relaxed as much as she could and made her escape thinking that’d be the end of it. She was wrong. Now she found a room of keys and a door on the other end to get through. Without telling her body to, it decided that she would grab a key and put it in the lock. That’s when Ella entered the chess room. At first, she thought she’d have to play a game of chess like she’d seen Ron do, but she didn’t. Her legs took her straight into the next room. There was a riddle on a sheet of paper and several bottles; she knew her body would decide for her. A fire raged on either side of her and she took a potion that made her stomach feel like it was turning to ice. At last she walked through the fire. Ella knew this was where they were keeping whatever was so precious and had originally been in the vault._

Before she could see anything more the dream reformed again.

_Looking around Ella realized she must have been in the forbidden forest. She’d never been there before and wouldn’t have minded taking a look around for curiosity’s sake, but dreams never let her choose where she wanted to go. She followed Harry and Malfoy a little ways until they came upon a dead unicorn. Ella wanted to cry at the sight of such a beautiful animal being dead. The silvery creature was so magnificent Ella couldn’t imagine what horrible thing would want to kill it. Then she watched the bush near them begin to quiver. From the bush came a figure shrouded in darkness. It went up to the dead animal and began to drink its blood. She was going to throw up at the disgusting scene in front of her. She heard Malfoy give a frightened scream beside her and Harry then bolt away with Fang at his heels. She found herself to be frozen alongside Harry. The man looked up at the two of them and began to swiftly come at them. Ella could see the blood dribbling down his chin._

Screaming Ella bolted up in bed. She was shaking vigorously shaking from head to toe. She just couldn’t stop herself; what she saw was terrifying. The image wouldn’t leave her either. Every time her eyes closed the face with unicorn blood dripping down its chin would be there like it was burned into her memory. The event hadn’t even happened yet, but she was already on edge. Normal people don’t drink unicorn’s blood; the thought of doing so seemed just dark.

Katie was by her side in an instant, “Ella, Ella what’s happened? What’s wrong?” She couldn’t tell her what she saw; Katie understood that too and didn’t try to make her tell. If she had it only would’ve caused more pain. So the two of them sat on Ella’s bed and Katie hugged Ella until she stopped shaking so terribly. It took nearly thirty minutes for her to calm down; by then they both had to get ready and go to class.

At the end of the day Ella walked into the Common Room and was surprised to see Harry sitting by himself in a seat next to the window. Of course, everyone had been ignoring him lately, but that didn’t mean that Ron and Hermione wouldn’t be with him. She looked around but didn’t see them at all. The only thing she saw was the other students casting glares in Harry’s direction every so often.

“Harry!” She said deciding to sit with him. Some of the people passing by gave her disbelieving looks for ‘talking to the traitor’ but she didn’t pay them any mind.

He was startled to say the least he turned around and asked hesitantly, “You’re not going to be one of the people who are going to just blame me for losing all those points are you?” 

She laughed, “No, no I actually know why you were out that late. You were sending Norbert to Romania.”

Harry’s eyes grew wide, “You know that? You’re not going to tell any of the teachers are you? Hagrid could get into big trouble if any of them find out.”

“I won’t tell them, especially since he’s gone now. Good thing too, he was getting rather large to stay in that hut, don’t you think?” Harry only could look at her in amazement.

“You know, I remember Ron telling me something about you dreaming about the future. Can you really do that?” Harry asked her sounding extremely curious.

“Yes, but I’m not supposed to tell anyone what I see. It could change the outcome of future events and Dumbledore wanted me to avoid that,” she explained and Harry nodded.

“That explains how you know so much, at least you don’t hate us,” Harry stated sadly.

Ella smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, “Things get better Harry, I assure you. You’ve got great friends and a bright future. I know that your reason for losing those points was a good one; soon enough everyone else will realize they’re just points and you’ll go back to being the famous Harry Potter.”

Harry laughed, “Because I want to be that so badly.”

She stood up and patted his shoulder one last time, “I’ve got to go now, but just keep your chin up and be safe tonight.” Harry gave her a look like he wanted her to elaborate more on what she meant about being safe, but Ella didn’t feel like she needed to.

Later that night Ella couldn’t sleep so she snuck down to the Common Room to study. It was nearly midnight so she knew most of the students would be asleep. Hermione, Harry, and Neville would be the exception in a little bit when they returned from their detention. Ella knew she should be sleeping since there would be classes the next day, but after that dream with the unicorn she didn’t want to deal with sleep. She didn’t entirely believe she’d dream about that man again since it was most likely happening right now, but she didn’t want to risk it.

The portrait hole swung open and Dumbledore walked through. Upon noticing her he smiled and made his way to where she was seated. He took a seat across from her and she could see the invisibility cloak in his hand.

“Up a bit late aren’t we Ella?” He asked not sounding angry, more amused.

“Couldn’t sleep professor,” she told him honestly. He just nodded at her and looked at her History of Magic book.

“I see you’re taking extreme measure to put yourself to sleep,” he joked to her.

Ella laughed, “I suppose I am.”

Dumbledore dropped the smile and informed her, “I’d like to have a meeting with you after the tests are over about your curse. Would you be alright with that?”

Nodding she responded, “Of course Professor, that’d be fine.”

He smiled at her once more, “Good, now that we have that settled, you should hurry along to bed now. One your age needs all the sleep they can get!” Ella’s shoulders slumped a bit but she did as she was told and climbed the stairs into the girl’s dormitory. Luckily, she didn’t dream of the man, but the images were still horrible. She awoke the next morning feeling jumpy and weak. She wondered if she’d ever feel strong while these dreams went on.


	15. Through the Trapdoor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

The week of finals was one where you barely had time to do anything other than studying and testing. Ella found that to be a relief this year and welcomed the feeling of having no extra time to spare. She still got to be around her friends, but there was never any time to talk. It appeared her dreams even came to a stop. Ella probably should have seen that as a warning of some kind, but she was too busy being relieved. Each day they had a final and Ella felt confident that, like the year before, she was doing extremely well on them all.

One morning Katie and Ella were informed that they would have choose two new classes to study for and Ella had no idea what she should choose. She wanted to stay with Katie though. All of their friends wanted to help in any way they can, but Ella still had no idea.

“I want to do Care of Magical Creatures,” Katie decided and she liked that idea. The twins agreed that it was a fun class to be in.

“You’ll love that class, but it can be boring sometimes,” George said.

Fred continued, “At least there’s not too much homework.”

Katie smiled, “I think I want to take Muggle Studies, just to learn more about them. I want to see how the other half lives, so to speak.”

“Would it be considered cheating if I took that with you?” Ella asked jokingly.

Lee shook his head, “No, you should take Divinations, Ella. That class was practically made for you.” It was true that Ella could probably excel in a class made for telling the future, but Ella was worried her curse would affect it.

Angelina laughed beside her, “Divinations would not be made for her. That’s practically an insult, Lee. Professor Trelawney is nothing more than a joke; I doubt she’s ever even made a real prediction in her life. She a complete fake if you ask me.”

“Dumbledore wouldn’t hire someone to teach us divinations if they couldn’t actually teach it,” Lee argued back to her.

Ella shrugged, “I think I’ll give the class a try anyways, just so I can decide whether she’s a phony or not.”

Alicia gave her a nudge and said, “You’d know better than any of us.” She smiled at how laid back her friends were at the fact she was different. She wished she had known them back when she went to her old school. They would’ve made it worthwhile. 

After the last of their tests Ella, Angelina, Katie, Lee, Fred, and George all went outside to enjoy the summer weather. Alicia had gone to the Quidditch pitch with Oliver so they could practice before the next match. They had tried to convince her that she’d have plenty of time to practice, but she insisted that she wanted to practice and Oliver wasn’t going to deny her the practice time. Once the group got there Fred, George, and Lee rolled up their pant legs and sleeves so they could wade into the shallow waters and play around with the giant squid. Angelina, Katie, and Ella sat under a tree close to the water so they could talk. Ella would be out with the boys, but she just felt like relaxing for now.

“So glad tests are over?” Katie asked Angelina and her.

Angelina laughed, “Never been happier.” Ella nodded in agreement and the girls smiled as the boys all tickled the squid laughed and shouting jokes at each other.

Ella asked Angelina, “Do you still like George?” Angelina’s cheeks turned a bit pink and she smiled wider.

“Yes, I believe so, but he’s as oblivious as ever. They probably won’t start getting crushes of their own until next year sadly. That’s what some of the older girls say. Too bad,” she responded. Ella nodded at that, Angelina and George would be cute together.

“For some reason, every time I’m around Fred I start feeling really weird and I don’t know why,” Ella told her friends. They shared a look.

“What kind of feeling?” Katie asked her curiously.

She thought for a moment, “Well, I feel like my stomach is doing flips and my palms get all sweaty.”

Again the two shared a look then grinned; Angelina told her, “Ella, you’re not just feeling weird. You’ve been bitten.”

“Bitten?!” Ella asked startled.

Katie leaned into her and sighed, “By the love bug.” She made sure to stretch out the o in love. Ella’s face burned red.

Shaking her head she said, “No, I like him as a friend. That’s all we are. Friends. I don’t like him like _that_...do I?”

Angelina told her, “It sounds like you do and it’s perfectly natural. You’re best friends and you do nearly everything together. I wouldn’t be at all surprised.” Ella thought over it for a minute.

Did she like Fred more than just a friend? He was funny, smart, cute, and sweet. He was such an amazing person to her that she could feel herself saying yes. She liked George too, but it wasn’t the same as Fred. George was like a brother to her, someone who she felt really close to but not in a romantic way. She finally came to her conclusion; she liked Fred. She had a _crush_ on Fred.

“I guess I do,” Ella informed Katie and Angelina who dissolved in giggles and phrases like that’s so cute and you’ll be an adorable couple.

“Wow, you girls seem to be having a good time,” Lee said coming up to them.

Angelina scoffed, “Well of course. Is that why you decided to come join us?”

Lee shook his head, “No, I just decided that I’d had my fun with the squid and was going to ask if you girls would like to come back to the Common Room with me before dinner.”

Ella decided she’d just do whatever the other girls wanted to do and looked around the grounds. She found Harry, Ron, and Hermione relaxing under another tree much like they were only she looked into Harry’s eyes and saw something that resembled disbelief or horror. Before she could get a closer look he was on his feet and heading to Hagrid’s hut. Ella only had a moment to wonder what happened before her stomach rolled with nausea. Her arm quickly curled around her stomach and she whimpered.

Katie was by her side instantly, “What’s wrong Ella?”

“Nothing, I just got a stomach ache,” she informed her friends trying to appease their worried looks. It was odd even to her; she had been fine not even a minute ago. Her stomach gave another lurch.

Angelina put a hand on her shoulder, “I think you need to go see Madam Pomfrey.” The group stood up and began making their way to the school. Lee stayed by her with a hand on her shoulder at all times just in case. Ella kept feeling worse and worse. She had no idea what was happening.

A sharp pain shot through her side and she let out a gasp of pain, but she was no longer with her friends. She was in the Common Room standing with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It seemed like it was close to night time, or at least a lot later than it was now.

Harry was yelling, “SO WHAT? Don’t you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort’s coming back! Haven’t you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won’t be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He’ll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn’t matter anymore, can’t you see? D’you think he’ll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I’ll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it’s only dying a bit later than I would have, because I’m going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me!”

Ella was aware that she was being pulled through the hallways and caught glimpses of her friends through the visions. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour and her breathing was ragged. She could feel tears streaming down her face.

“They…Tonight. No –” she gasped. A burst of pain exploded in the back of her skull and she was thrust out of reality again. Neville was raising his fists to the trio as they attempted to leave the Common Room that night.

 _“Petrificus totalus!”_ Hermione yelled and Neville fell to the ground.

“Stop, stop. Y-you can’t,” Ella cried and she faintly heard her friends trying to soothe her but their words were lost to the world Ella’s mind was shifting to.

In horror, Ella watched the white queen strike Ron across the head and he fell to the floor. She screamed not knowing if he was alright and unable to go see if he was alive. She cried even harder in fear. Ella wanted it all to stop. The pain was overwhelming, a thousand times worse than what happened on Halloween. Compared to this, that was absolutely nothing.

Without any warning she was in a new room. There was a man there as well as the mirror of Erised. Ella’s eye grew in shock. It was Quirrell; he really was the one after whatever had been in the vault. He was after the thing that would bring Voldemort back.

“Use the boy…Use the boy…” Quirrell’s turban was speaking. Ella felt fear bubble in her already upset stomach. _It couldn’t be…_

Quirrell began to unwrap the turban, the cloth falling to the floor around him. Instead of just seeing the back of his head there was a horrible face with blood red eyes, ghostly white skin, and the nose of a snake. This was Lord Voldemort. Ella opened her eyes and saw the real Professor Quirrell walking towards her and her friends. She did the only logical thing; she let out a blood curdling scream.

“Calm down Ella, it’s okay. Professor please help us, she’s having a panic attack of some sort. We need to get her to Madam Pomfrey,” Angelina told Quirrell. He reached out to grab her arm so he could help take her to the hospital wing. It felt like the touch was burning and she kept screaming. She couldn’t stop herself.

Ella thrashed and fought to get away from him all the while screaming, “No, no, no please.” Her vision was flashing in and out of the real world. She could see Quirrell’s hands blistering in that room yet his hands were fine dragging her through the halls. She still fought, her pain was Harry’s pain, or would be. Her head felt like it was on fire and the rest of her body was immersed in a blinding pain.

Voldemort’s screams echoed all throughout her mind, “SIEZE HIM! SIEZE HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”

“Stop it, stop it. Not tonight, not tonight,” Ella begged no one in particular. They were in the hospital wing now, but Ella didn’t know that. The real world was lost to her now. All she could feel was the terrible pain she was in, especially at her throat. She could feel Quirrell’s hands wrapped around it, he was choking her and would be choking Harry soon. Her breaths came out as short gasps; they weren’t getting much air. The world swam around her; she lost all sight of what world she was in, where her friends were, and where Voldemort was. All she knew was black and she welcomed that with open arms.


	16. The Man with Two Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Harry Potter.

After Ella passed out, Lee, Angelina, and Katie collapsed into chairs out of pure exhaustion. They had never seen such a frightening thing in their life. None of them even knew what had been going on when she began muttering about not tonight and stop them. The words meant nothing to them, but whatever was going through Ella’s mind was painful.

“D-did you hear how she screamed at Quirrell?” Katie stammered.

Angelina shook her head, “You’re kidding right? I’ll be hearing that sound for weeks. What even happened? One minute we were all fine and enjoying the end of the tests then the next Ella’s in a complete frenzy. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Katie looked over at Angelina with wide eyes, “You don’t think it was…”

Lee glanced up at the two confused, “What do you mean? Do you know-”

Just then the doors to the hospital wing burst open and the twins came running in. They both seemed to be in a state of panic as the glanced at Ella and then the rest of their friends. When they came to the spot where Ella was lying they began to pant and tried to catch their breath.

“What happened? We saw you guys were gone, but when we came inside someone said they saw Ella in a complete panic,” Fred stated.

George continued, “We didn’t know what they meant by it so we rushed here. What happened to her?”

The three who took Ella to the hospital wing looked at each other, then Angelina said, “Well, it was so nice out and we were all pretty tired, so Ella fell asleep. By the looks of it, she began having a nightmare and we couldn’t get her to wake up. So we brought her here, there wasn’t that big of a fuss. People just like to exaggerate, you know.”

Katie nodded vigorously and then both girls looked at Lee expectantly. He knew that that had certainly not happened. He had no idea why they lied, but the looks on their faces said it was for a good reason. He would get to the bottom of it later.

“It’s true, definitely nothing to worry about. Let’s go get something to eat. Madam Pomfrey said she’ll probably sleep here the rest of the night and maybe a little into tomorrow,” Lee told his two closest friends who shrugged and walked out of the room. The others followed but Lee grabbed onto their arms.

“We may have fooled them, but you’re not going to fool me. As soon as dinner is over you guys are going to tell me what you think happened with Ella because it was certainly something big, not exaggerated,” he hissed in their ears and they shared a worried glance between each other.

Throughout dinner, Angelina and Katie kept shooting each other worried glances that did not go unnoticed by Lee. The twins seemed more interested in what they were going to say to Ella when she woke up than how odd their friends were acting. To them, Ella was their main worry; she was the one in the hospital wing after all.

After dinner had finished the twins decided they’d just go to bed. Neither twin felt like they could stay up any later and they just wanted it to be the next day so they could go see if Ella had woken up. This left Lee alone with the girls who hadn’t had time to figure out what to tell the teen. Said boy tapped his foot impatiently waiting for some sort of explanation to be given.

“I’m waiting,” Lee said to them.

Katie sighed, “Look, it’s really not something for us to tell you. It’s Ella’s secret and she didn’t want anyone to know. We only found out due to some unfortunate circumstances and I guess you’re going to be the same way, but we really shouldn’t be the ones to tell you what happened.”

Lee’s eyebrows knit themselves together, “Is it really that bad of a secret that you can’t tell me?”

Angelina spoke this time, “It’s a secret that has to be told very delicately. It’s not the best thing in the world, but Ella explains it best. Like Katie said, it’s not for us to tell because it’s Ella’s secret.”

Lee nodded dejectedly but planned to get Ella alone when she woke up so she could tell him. He wasn’t going to sit there and pretend to be fooled for the rest of his life. He wanted to know if the secret was really bad enough to be kept from friends. Secrets don’t make friends, they make walls. Lee didn’t want Ella to feel like she had to block off all her friends.

The first thing Ella noticed when she opened her eyes was that it was incredibly bright. So bright, in fact, that she had to reclose her eyes and wait another minute before opening them. It was quite disorienting for Ella to wake up somewhere other than her own bed, she really hoped she wasn’t making a habit of it.

She looked around the hospital wing trying to figure out what was going on. She noticed she wasn’t the only kid there. Ron and Harry were still unconscious in the beds across from her. Ella was just relieved that they were alive; that meant that someone had saved them. She desperately hoped Quirrell was caught and didn’t get away. Harry being safe was a bit of an indication of that.

“You’re awake!” A voice said as it walked through the door. Lee’s head popped around the corner and Ella smiled at her friend.

“I guess I am. How long was I out?” She asked him worried that it had been like a week or more.

Lee shrugged, “Just a day. We brought you here yesterday afternoon and now it’s afternoon today.”

Ella sighed, “Well that’s a relief.”

Lee nodded but grew quiet, Ella was about to ask him what was wrong, but he beat her by saying, “What happened yesterday? You were fine one minute then the next it was like a horrible nightmare. Katie and Angelina wouldn’t tell me what happened, but that doesn’t mean nothing did. So please don’t lie to me; I’m not stupid, Ella.”

“I know,” Ella said closing her eyes, “I know you aren’t, and I know I have to tell you, but you can’t do anything rash. Don’t yell until you’ve heard all of what I have to say. Don’t try to tell me what I’m doing isn’t right until you hear what I have to say. Just try to not do anything until you hear me out.”

He stayed silent and waited for Ella to get on with her explanation, “Remember how I admitted to everyone I was still having dreams? Well, the thing is I couldn’t tell anyone about those dreams because of a spell that Dumbledore put on me. No, no interrupting. He put this on me because I asked him to, not because he felt the need to... well, he felt the need to a little, but I pushed for it. We were both worried about the future and how my knowing it could change it for the worst. I decided to get the curse, which is a better description for it than spell. The curse refuses to let me say a word about the future to anyone and depending on what I say or how important the information may be, it depends on the pain I get for telling anyone. Well, trying to tell anyone I guess.” 

“How could you agree to that? How could you not tell us that? The pain you went through just yesterday seemed unbearable, why would you be okay with that? Why wouldn’t you tell the rest of us willingly?” Lee shouted at her. Madam Pomfrey came out and glared at Lee who mumbled sorry. She left muttering something about disrespecting other patients.

“Don’t you think I’ve thought of all this? You ask me so many questions so why don’t I ask you a few. What if you, Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, or Alicia were to be hurt because I said something about the future? What if everything around us was to be destroyed because I said the wrong phrase and changed the course of the future? How would you feel in my position when lives could be at risk because of what you could possibly say? You don’t know how it feels to be trapped with these visions and deal with the possibility of altering something’s outcome in a terrible way. Don’t pretend to think the alternative was better because you don’t know that,” Ella hissed at him trying to prove her point.

“Okay, okay so you’ve got a point there, but why wouldn’t you tell the rest of us? We could have helped you so wouldn’t have to deal with the pain alone,” Lee reasoned.

She shook her head, “I’ll ask you the same question I asked Katie and Angelina, how do you think Fred and George will react?”

For a moment Lee thought about it then replied, “They’d be furious and try to get Dumbledore to take the curse off of you…oh. Now I see.”

“If they were to know about it, they would put a stop to it. You can’t imagine how much it kills me that they don’t know, but I need to keep this on and there’s no way they’d let that happen. Please, I’d never ask this of you if in weren’t completely necessary, but please don’t tell them,” Ella begged and Lee frowned at her.

“They’re my best mates, I don’t know how comfortable I am lying to them,” Lee whispered and Ella put a hand on his shoulder.

“They’re mine too; I know it’s hard, but I will tell them one day. I promise you that,” Ella told him sounding as sincere as she could. Lee nodded and after sitting for a while in silence, he left with a promise to come back later with the twins.

The group came to visit her before dinner that night. Fred and George were really the only ones who had anything to say to her. Angelina and Katie both said they were just glad she was alright. The twins on the other hand were wondering if she had dreamt the attack from Quirrell and that’s what made her so frightened the other day. Ella didn’t hesitate to tell them that was exactly it since she could talk about the past without being hurt. The twins weren’t only there for Ella though, Ron had woken up a bit after Ella did and they were talking to him too.

Many people had been by to see Harry and left him candy and cards to get better. Hermione came by quite often to see how Harry and Ron were. Fred and George managed to give Harry a toilet seat that Ella didn’t want to know how they’d gotten, but Madam Pomfrey took it away. Ella just felt happy that this was behind them. Maybe now, life would be simpler. Probably not, but at least it was a nice thought.

Ella was allowed to leave the hospital wing the next morning along with Ron who was feeling much better, but everyone was worried about Harry who was still very much unconscious. Ella was told that as soon as she was out of the hospital wing she needed to go straight to Dumbledore’s office. Ella didn’t even know what to think about that. Was she in trouble for making such a scene the other day? She could hardly help it, she was scared and in pain!

“Come in Ella,” Dumbledore’s voice said from behind the door. Ella pushed it open and walked into the office she knew rather well from her other visits. 

She sat down in the chair in front of his desk waiting for him to yell at her, “So Ella, I hear you were in the hospital wing due to the curse?”

“Yes, Professor, I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to cause such a scene, it just happened. I’m really so-“

“Dear child, why are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong. In fact, I wouldn’t have expected anything less after what you went through. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you for putting you through that. That is was I called you here, I wanted to take the curse off of you, it is much too dangerous,” Dumbledore said gravely but Ella began to panic.

“But Professor, you can’t do that. What about the future? I can’t change that, I really can’t. I don’t care about the pain as long as I’m protecting my friends, please don’t take the curse off,” Ella begged and Dumbledore’s expression softened.

His eyes twinkled as he told her, “You are so young and yet, so selfless. It is a quality that I have yet to see so strong in one so young in a long time. I’ll take it off of you for a few moments so you can tell me anything you may feel is a necessity, but if you really wish it, I can put it back on you before you go.” Ella nodded and listened to the foreign string of words leave the man’s mouth.

Her shoulders felt lighter and her chest wasn’t so constricted. She let out a relieved sigh, “That’s so much better.”

“Now is there anything you need to say?” He asked her nicely.

“Not really anything alarming. I just see a man named Lockhart and voices in the walls,” she said to him.

“Voices in the walls? What do mean by that?” He asked worriedly. It did seem rather odd when she thought about it. Walls don’t usually talk.

“I was probably just not as asleep, or there were people on the other side of the walls. I don’t think it was anything to worry about,” Ella told him trying to convince herself that just as much as him.

Dumbledore nodded deep in thought, “And you say that’s it?” Ella shook her head to say yes. “Right then, well I suppose it’s time then for you to go.” With that he cast her curse once more and she left the room.

The next few days passed in a blur, much too fast for Ella’s liking. Gryffindor had lost the Quidditch match but they won the House Cup. Harry had woken up for that and everyone was glad their hero was up and moving again. What their hero and Ella didn’t like was going back to the place they hated so much. Ella knew Harry planned on ‘forgetting’ to tell his relatives that they couldn’t use magic outside of school and Ella herself was through with being trodden on by her parents.

Rowena would stay with her this time. She wouldn’t let her parents leave her in seclusion again. She was also going to make sure she had all her books, even her Animagus books which Madam Pince said she could keep for the summer as their little secret. The Weasleys promised they’d bring her to the Burrow as soon as they possibly could. Ella was going into the summer with a lighter heart than she had the year before and she was determined to keep her heart that way for as long as she could. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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